Once we received the butterfly kit, we got to work putting each little larvae into their own container with their food. We put the containers into our butterfly net. They grew very quickly!
The caterpillars containers needed to be cleaned. We removed the frass and the webbing to give them space to create their chrysalis when they were ready. We also sat down and discussed the life cycles together in order to better understand what was happening to our little friends. Did you know that when butterflies forms a chrysalis it completely disintegrates inside before reforming as a butterfly?
Our caterpillars began to hang in their 'J pose' which told us they were ready to make their chrysalis. Once they formed their chrysalis we removed them from their containers and hung them up around our net. We waited very patiently for them to emerge!
When we came back to school after a weekend we were so excited to find butterflies in our net! We also noticed a red liquid around the cage. We learned this is called meconium. Meconium is a waste product left over from their metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly. Eventually all of our butterflies emerged and after a few days of feeding them orange slices, they were strong enough to be released.
We brought the butterflies outside and let them fly away into our lovely wooded area behind the school.
Au revoir, papillons!
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