Henry J. Kalfas Elementary

Follow along with us as we watch our caterpillars grow into butterflies!

The life cycle of the butterfly has 4 stages: Egg, Caterpillar (Pupa), Crysalis (Cocoon), and Butterfly!

This process of change is called metamorphosis.

 Today (May 11th) we received our 2 cups of caterpillars in the mail. 

This is what they looked like today...

Here's a closer look at what's inside...

The brown material at the bottom of the cup is caterpillar food. This is what they eat to grow nice and big before they make their chrysalis.

You will also see small black fuzzy pieces in the cup. Those are pieces of the caterpillars' skin that they have outgrown and shed. This is called molting.

Can you think of another insect or animal that sheds its skin?

We can also see what looks like webs in the cups. This is silk that the caterpillars will make their chrysalis out of.

Can you think of another insect that makes a web out of silk?

Today is May 14th and this is how our caterpillars look today...

They are still eating so they can grow nice and big.

They are heading to the underside of the lid where they will soon make their chrysalis.

May 15th

Our caterpillars are hanging from the lid in a J-shape. You can see that the one caterpillar near the front center is already in it's chrysalis (it looks harder and a slightly different shape than the others).

May 17th

Our caterpillars are all in their chrysalises and are being moved into their butterfly habitat today! It takes about 10 days for the caterpillars to complete their metamorphosis and become butterflies. Stay tuned!

May 24th

Our caterpillars have started hatching today! 

When they first emerge from their chrysalises their wings are curled up. It takes several minutes for them to be able to fully stretch their wings out. After a few hours (and once the blood has started pumping through their wings) they can start to flutter around and fly.

We placed some orange slices in the butterfly habitat because they will need to eat something similar to what they would eat in the wild (nectar).

May 26th

We are releasing our Painted Lady butterflies today!

*Pictures to come!.. technical difficulties uploading them today*

* We ordered our caterpillars from the Insect Lore website *