Our New Daycare Babies

Our daycare is excited about raising our new babies! The shipment of 6 little caterpillars arrived yesterday from our Child Care Resource and Referral program.  We created a habitat for them today and are looking forward to observing their metamorphosis up close.  I find myself reciting The Very Hungry Caterpillar all day long:)

George and Muffin Mouse are taking more detailed observation notes and are working collaboratively on a science report - we wonder if the size of the caterpillar will correspond to the size of the chrysalis, and whether this will impact the butterfly's development....

 

 Some quick facts on Painted Lady Butterflies:

• They are one of the most common butterflies in the world and undergo their complete life cycle under controlled conditions - all stages are easily observed.

• The larvae (caterpillar) builds a webbed nest on Canada Thistle, mallow or another of its preferred food plants.  We expect the first chrysalis 5-14 days from now.

• After the chrysalis is formed we will create a "flight house" with netting and expect to see our butterflies in 7-10 days.

• We will plan to keep the butterflies in the flight house for a few days (feeding them orange Gatorade!) until releasing them.  5-7 days after emergence female butterflies will start searching for host plants on which to lay their eggs.

Joyfully observant,
Caz.