Metamorphosis

H3 likes bugs for the most part. She's got a phobia of flying ones though, except for butterflies of course. (Seriously, she gives a shrill squeal and runs not only from bees, but from dragonflies and even your basic housefly. No clue why she gets so worked up about them!)  Seeing as she likes to point out every butterfly and caterpillar in sight during our walks, I asked H1 to indulge me and purchase a butterfly habitat and accompanying caterpillars (H3 calls them pattikillers....I've never stopped because I think it's hilarious, and yes, she does know they really are caterpillars).

When they first arrived, they were too small for me to photograph. Here is after a week and they grew quite quickly! They arrive in this cup, which is their home and food for the first 7-10 days. We had 5 of them in there!

At the end of 10 or so, they all crawled to the top and assumed a "J" shape, and eventually formed chrysalides.

Here I've relocated them to their new habitat

And this is one of our painted lady butterflies that emerged!

It's a little hard to see, but there's two of them here, along with 4 empty  shells on the left. #5 is still in the chrysalis and he hatched a day later.

I didn't get any pictures of when we released them. It was a windy day and they took off quickly! I've kept the habitat because apparently I can order more caterpillars. I may do so next year. H3 really enjoyed the experience and loved checking on the daily progress. We had them for a little over 2 weeks, from arrival until releasing. In the meantime, we did lots of butterfly crafts and read butterfly books.  I think she has a pretty good grasp on the idea! If you get a chance to order one of these, I'd highly recommend it. It's a good visual for little ones!  We got ours from Insect Lore and it was $19.99 for their butterfly garden, including having the caterpillars shipped to us at the same time (it costs more if you opt to have your caterpillars shipped later). They also offer other insect kits, if your child happens to love bugs!

~H2