Blommestein Butterflies

Every year at school we get some caterpillars so that the students can see the full life cycle of butterflies. This year I decided to get a set for home so that Maddy and Ethan could see it too. I have to admit that even I had a great time watching them change. At school, it's a little different because we're only there for a short period of time, but at home we got to see all the stages up close and personal.

The baby caterpillars came in a little plastic container. They were about 1 cm long and about 1 mm thick. I was amazed a how much they grew in such a short time. The beige stuff at the bottom of the container is the food that they will eat until they are fully grown caterpillars. It's made mostly of soy and wheat.

Here they are on May 8th. (Two days after bringing them home)

By May 13th, they were much bigger.

The length of time before they are ready to pupate depends on the temperature and can be anywhere between 8-14 days. Our first caterpillar started to hang in the 'J' shape after just 7 days. 24 hours after they hang, the chrysalis appeared.

On the right, is a caterpillar just beginning to pupate. The one on the left is in the Chrysalis form.

Once all the caterpillars turned into their chrysalis form, we were able to move them to the bigger home. They stayed there for the rest of the time. This stage can last anywhere between 8-14 days and again it depends on the air temperature.

Room to grow (May 19th)

About 24 hours before the butterfly emerges, the chryslides turn very dark. If you look closely, you can see speckles of orange and those specks are the wing colours showing through.

The one on the left is about ready to emerge. Look closely and you can see the orange specks.
In the background is the casing left by a butterfly that already emerged.

Our first butterfly emerged after about 8 days. The whole process of emerging can take about 2 minutes, so the chances of being able to catch it on video is low. Not that I didn't try. I stayed up late, I checked them often, I even willed them to emerge by talking to them, but it was not to be.

The first one! (May 25th)

When they first emerge their wings are crumpled and the butterfly will grip the netting and hang upside down while their wings dry. If they don't their wings will be deformed, making it difficult to fly. In some of the photos, you may see red drops that look like blood. It's just the waste they excrete when they first emerge from the chrysalis. They don't eat for the first 24 hours but after they ate off of Gatorade soaked cotton balls or orange slices.

These are Painted Lady butterflies.

All six of our original caterpillars made it. The kids loved watching them.

In order to release them, you have to wait for a warm and dry day. I was worried that we may not get another chance with Josh being home too, so we decided to release them today. It was a lot of fun. I hope you enjoy the video.