Life of a Painted Lady..

I invite you to join us for the main event, butterfly hatching!  This project is meant to demonstrate the life cycle and metamorphasis of a butterfly.  If you have never done this before, I highly suggest it!  The kids always love this project, and the butterflies can be released into nature once they emerge from the chrysalis.  Take a moment to check out http://www.insectlore.com/, and they almost always have special offers at http://www.livebutterflygarden.com/.   I took advantage of the special offer and got 2 for the price of 1!  I donated one set to My oldest's 2nd grade classroom.  They are in love!

So, these little critters arrived today.  They are about a week old (my guess, they are tiny!).  They are only about a quarter inch long right now, but will get nice and long and fat before they reach the chrysalis stage.  I encourage you to follow along with my blog, as I will be posting updates every couple days of their status, so you can see their growth! The stuff at the bottom is their food..  you'll see little fibers in there, that's the caterpillars' webbing.  Under the lid is paper, where the full grown caterpillars will attach themselves to form into the chrysalis. These little guys will reach that stage in a couple weeks!

Please follow along!  :)