Five Butterflies!

This photo was taken a day before the turned into chrysalides

On April 19 we received a package in the mail that contained 5 caterpillars. Last week they turned into chrysalides. Four of them were attached to a paper disc inside the lid of the cup, and one was dangling in the middle. I was concerned that one wouldn't survive the transfer to the butterfly garden, but in fact that butterfly was the very first one to hatch on Thursday morning. I was starting to get nervous that I'd miss out on seeing the butterflies hatch because of attending the CHAP convention, but I was able to see three butterflies on Thursday. The first one hatched while we were shopping at the grocery store. The third one I happened to look in on them just as it started to hatch, and I called Nadia and the two of us got to see the whole thing, which was really special. They are painted lady butterflies, and they are gorgeous.  Butterfly #4 hatched on Friday morning around 6am while I was eating breakfast. Nadia watched the last one hatch on Saturday.

Five chrysalides in the butterfly garden

This afternoon we set four of the butterflies free. The first two flew off without being held at all. The third one stayed on Nadia's hand for quite awhile, and Ian tried many times to get it to go on his hand to no avail. The fourth butterfly did go on his hand a couple of times, but he kept flying off so quickly that I never was able to get a picture. Nadia convinced me to keep the fifth butterfly in the habitat for one more day. We'll release that one tomorrow. This is the best way to do science education in my opinion. It's one thing to read about metamorphosis in books (and we've certainly done that), but it's another thing to watch it first hand! Next up will be ladybugs! We'll have to do butterflies again in a few years when Oliver is older because he was completely oblivious this time around.