My daughter got this butterfly kit. You send away for the caterpillars, and they turn into butterflies a few weeks later. Our butterflies hatched today!
Our butterflies hatched today!
Here's one hatching:
Here's one after 2 hours:
The habitat:
Oops! Let's try that right side up:
Here's a nice Painted Lady crawling on my daughter's arm:
Not a very good pic but...
This is a great gift for kids who like science or animals or gardening or nature. It helps them learn patience and respect for all creatures.You can order caterpillars any time of year, although I would recommend doing it in the summer, so they can be free to fly around. Otherwise, they have to stay in the habitat, which is not big enough for them to do any flying in.
The trick is to keep your kids from terrorizing the poor little newborns....
that is so cool Ivy1
Your little girl beautiful!
Good for you! It is a wonderful thing to teach them when they are little. I plant host plants for them in my garden and raise quite a few indoors. My son loves releasing them. He terrorizes the cats, but he is gentle with the butterflies. :)
Oh my gosh, that is absolutely adorable!!! Can big people buy butterfly kits, too?
:)
I don't think so! :-( The mailman will card you but, the way around that is to gift a kid. Then get the kid share with you. :-)
Thanks, everyone!
My daughter is very gentle with them too. I don't want to give the wrong impression! She just wants to take them out every minute of the day. We will release them as soon as we get a warm dry day. I asked her before they hatched what she wanted to do, keep them or let them go. She thought about it and said "Let's let them go, but keep them till day after tomorrow when Danielle (her best friend) can see them." I was really surprised that she would pick what was good for them. I leaned toward letting them go, but wanted her to make her own decision, since they were a gift.
In fact, the hardest thing about the kit is that I feel bad keeping the critters even for these 2 days! They seem to want to go out so badly! When my daughter takes them out, they eventually fly right to a window. In a way, it's good that it is cold and rainy or I would have been tempted to let them go before this.
Konkreteblonde- Your son is so cute! Where did you get the beautiful Swallowtail? Our company has Painted Ladies. Did you have a chrysalid on your property, or did you order them? We have a beautiful butterfly sanctuary in Massachusetts that we went to last year. You can buy Monarchs, but I'm not sure whether they have other ones for sale.
This message was edited Jul 8, 2005 10:02 AM
I love it when young'uns make thoughtful decisions like that.
We get the Swallowtails from our back yard. I plant fennel every year for them. I don't see the butterflies as often as others, but they never fail to leave me plenty of eggs. We bring them inside when they are almost ready to pupate, then we can watch them and release them. I don't know if you can purchase these, but they are easy to attract with fennel.
If you get the chance, do purchase one of the Monarch's at your sanctuary. They are amazing to watch when they eclose! They are very friendly too, not as skiddish and ready to go as my Black Swallowtails. The Monarchs will walk on your hand and pose nicely for pictures.
Alice has been playing with Flower, Diamond, Sparkle, Heart, and Baby (the names she gave them) all day. They are flying around more and more. I don't want them getting lost or stepped on! They sit on her hand and lull her into a false sense of security- then, flutter off.
Sunday is supposed to be 90 degrees - I think that is a good release day! It's only 60 today, can you believe it?
I have some Bronze Fennel sitting in a pot on the deck still waiting to be planted (I'm so bad). Guess I better go ahead.
Those pics are awesome Ivy!!! Looks like your daughter had a lot of fun!!!
Mark
So did you release them? I usually try to release mine the same day, especially the BST's. They are ready to GO! The Monarch's are slower and I will usually wait another day on them. Otherwise they will just sit on a flower forever and I'm afraid they'll get eaten. I had about 50 BST's eclose in the winter once and had to keep them inside for several days, until it got above freezing and warmer. I made a big long net cage for them. They would eat and fly around just a little then just hang out on the top.
We could not release them yet due to cold, rainy weather. It was 61 day before yesterday!Can you believe that? I decided it would be cruel to send them out to either sure death or at least an uncomfortable night of 60 (or under) degree weather. The instructions say they can't live below 55.
They also seemed really frail for a couple days. Now the three oldest are rarin' to go.
Today it was 80, but my husband hustled us off to the beach early. I thought we'd be home in time to release them, but it was after 5 o'clock when we finally got back! I don't want to release them without my daughter understanding that they will be better off. I want to do it in the morning so they will have time to get enough energy to make it through the night. Maybe this is not the right way, but it makes sense to me.
I think they will fly all over when they get out. One keeps making failed escape attempts, but my daughter keeps bringing him back. Another is observing and copying him. One only hatched yesterday and I think the other two were mating today when we got home.
Will they know how to drink out of a flower when they go? I keep putting real flowers in, and I drip sugar water on them, but they just find the drops and sit on the edges of the flowers. I try to use different flowers, but their reaction is the same no matter what type I use.
They will know what to do when they get out. I know that I've had some that seem pretty stupid tho, so I can see why you ask. LOL Are they drinking any of the sugar water? The oldest ones will be needing some food by now. I feed them watermelon Gatorade when I have to keep them inside due to the weather. Put it on a cotton pad or ball, on a plate or in a bowl. They taste with their feet so you will have to sit them on the cotton. Did it come with any instructions on how to handle them? I hold them like the instructions for tagging the Monarchs shows. (look at www.monarchwatch.org) It's hard to explain, but you grab their wings and close them with your thumb and pointer finger. Just easily pinch them shut. Their little legs will kick all over, then sit them on the cotton. Some taste it immediately and will sit still, then drink. Others will sit but not drink, so I use toothpick to roll out their probiscus (tongue), while still holding their wings closed. Once they start to taste the juice, then they will relax and start poking around and drinking on their own. I've had some that were so ornery (the BST's) that they wouldn't drink at all. I'm sure it's too late for you to do all of this now, but if you don't release them tomorrow you should attempt to feed them if they won't use the flowers.
This is my one and only Zebra ST that I raised. It was cold outside in Nov. too and I had to feed it inside for a few days. It learned quickly.
I fed them from day one- rushed to the kitchen and grabbed some sugar and water, dribbled it on some flowers I cut from the garden. Then I also put in a paper towel soaked with sugar water.
We relaesed three of ours today! I t was amazing! They just flew up and over the house, and then gone. Hope they make it for a while. One's wing was kind of crunched up looking. My daughter's friend held one, and of course, right after I said not to touch the wings my daughter said she did. Some kids can't resist doing something they are not supposed to. Anyway that one flew up the highest!
The last one sat on some Lantana for a while, then flopped onto the deck, and sat open winged for 5 minutes. When Alice went to see if it was alive it flew up and then looked tired so it landed on the garage roof. It is still there, again, open- winged. Is it dying? Pregnant? Laying eggs? Stupid? It definitely drank out of the Lantana. I'm scared it's gonna get eaten by a bird or something. This is like having kids! Very stressful, wondering will they make it or not.
LOL... it is stressful, isn't it!? You'll get over that after you do it a few times. It's like kids, you know, you dote on the first one then start to relax. I panicked about a lot of things the first year I raised them.
The last one is just warming up in the sun/air. Sometimes they are just more laid back than others. When you put them out and they are cold they will close their wings, so you know it was happy.
The worst thing I had happen was when one got out of the net cage (HOW it found the opening and crawled between the folded layers, I don't know!) and my cat got ahold of it!! I had to hand feed it until it died because it barely had any wings left. :( It was very sweet tho. I had another one that was injured, same way, and it was ornery!
Funny how they have personalities of their own, isn't it? There was a movie a few years back, showing bugs really close up, and with night time photography. I can't remember the name, but it was a play on words. I never looked at bugs the same way. They have families and homes just like we do.
My little Lady started flapping her wings a little while ago, and now she is gone from the top of the garage! Good Luck!
My daughter insisted on keeping two of these guys. I hope she will want to release them later.
The documentary was called Microcosmos! It was super. Rent it and see how close we are to the insects!
Alice still hasn't released the two last butterflies. She says she wants to keep them till they die.
I am torn between thinking they should be free, and thinking it would be a good learning experience to watch the entire life cycle. Unfortunately, I think we let the only male go. She did see them mating, but I think the eggs either got thrown out with old flowers, or were never laid inside the tent.
Oh, well. We will try again next week, when we visit the butterfly sanctuary.
I'm not sure how many you have left, but personally I would let them go. I think the learning experience has already happened, and she will learn the part about their having to die soon enough. You will probably find at least one dead butterfly in your garden this year.
My son was 3 when I started raising them and I'm sure he would have liked to keep them. I personally thought it was best to let him know right away that they were not toys and we were just watching them do what they would naturally do outside, but protected inside.
You don't want her to think either that handling the butterflies is a normal experience. I can't give you any scientific evidence, but I've often heard that you shouldn't handle them. Butterfly sanctuaries do explain to not touch them or handle them, but they will land on you anyways. I've been to one exhibit where people were putting the fruit on their skin to get the butterflies to land on them. I think I read/heard that it somehow disrupts their natural tasting abilities in their feet.
;-)
Konkreteblond- thanks for the advice. It took a couple of days to convince her, but we let the last two go today! One stayed on our Lantana, and the other had had enough and got out fast. Up and over the roof.
I was proud of Alice, and told her that she was a good girl. I explained that they weren't good pets, and that they couldn't stand being trapped. She said O.K. let's let them go.
I told her that we could catch some others if we released them very fast. She went for a Cabbage White, and we kept it for about 5 minutes, with a stalk of catmint for food. It was really going crazy, and she could see it was unhappy, so we let it go.
We also found a tiny yellow furry caterpillar on my other Lantana plant. Any one know what it is? Light yellow with a green head and little whitish fur sticking up. Only about an inch long. We brought that in with some leaves, and then let him go about 10 minutes after. Will I be sorry I let him go? He's left holes in my Salvias, Lantana and Sweet Potato Vine. I guess it comes with the territory. I wanted wildlife in my garden!
I'm thinking of a story my favorite plant nursery owner told me. She designed a 100 foot long butterfly garden for a client of hers. The lady really wanted butterflies. The next year the lady called her in a panic. She said, "There are caterpillars EVERYWHERE chewing up and destroying my plants!" The designer told her that that was what was supposed to happen, and they were butterflies. Apparently the client went out the next day and sprayed all the caterpillars dead. Now, isn't that the saddest story?
I love this thread.
Just wanted to add that I scatter host plants through out my gardens .
I still get holes in some of my tropicals but they are usually J.beetles or earwigs. A squirt of soap takes care of them.
Earwigs are really bad here this year , burrowing into the new leaves . Or they cut a hole straight through emerging canna leaves and when the leaves unfurl they look like lace. Reminds me of the kids paper doilies that they make .
Even DH noticed all the butterflies the other day.
Surprised me 'cause he only recognizes gardens for the food it produces .... lol
(((*-*)))
This message was edited Jul 16, 2005 12:56 PM
I have magazine articles from long ago about butterfly enclosures . I stored this info for things I might do after retirement.
So , one of these days I would love to try building make a BF enclosure to raise them for release.
Now that I know about hoop house structure, I think maybe it could be covered with some kind of ag fabric ? ? ?
Thinking maybe the spun /woven row cover type stuff ? ? ?
Any ideas out there ?
Shirley (((*-*)))
Shirley, that sounds like a fabulous idea! Would you want to be able to walk inside the enclosure, or keep it just big enough to house the butterflies?
How about screen door material? You would definitely want to be able to clean it. The butterflies we had poop out this red stuff called meconium (the same as babies) and you would want to clean it off the enclosure if they land on it for any length of time, or if a chrysalid was attached to it.
Gee thanks for the info. I guess that white row cover is out of the question then.
Thinking out loud again ..............
Fiberglass screening like they use for tents , etc. would work and it is sew-able.
I really need to learn alot before attemting a project like this . Mostly because I would be responsible for their mortality.
Would'nt that be glorious make it big enough to walk in?
I imagine a solid path of some kind down the middle would make it easier to see them while stepping?
Let's see , 2- 3/4 in pvc connected and 2 pieces of rebar would make one hoop 10 ft wide and albout 8 ft tall
if you did 3 hoops 4 ft apart the enclosure would be 8 ft long.
I think size may be dictated by the width of screening available.
Would need one side that would roll up or unzip to release the new fliers ?
Much easier than a plastic covered HH , no stress from wind wanting to blow it over or rip it to shreds.
OK , this is as far as I've gone. You realize I'm hatching this idea of mine out loud , in front of all y'all. .... *grin*
Gotta Go, BBL
I'm not really sure what you are envisioning here, but if you are going to leave it outside you will need screen that is very tight. The mesh (not sure what this is called) should be small enough to keep the tiniest parasitic wasps out. Sorry, that does make it harder. I just used plain screen on my cage but didn't leave them outside in it all the time. I never had one parasitized tho.
OK ........ Warned you I was new at this , so now I am Getting books and studying for a year or two . (or 3 or 4 ) LOL
Also found a website with plenty to read. http://www.monarchwatch.org/
Sorry I took up so much of this thread with all my blathering , so I'm outta here.
I love this place !
Nah, it won't take you that long...just keep reading and "blathering". ;) What is the "hoop house structure and where did you read about this??
Monarch Watch has some good info. Do you have milkweeds? Wanting to raise Monarchs? I read something (maybe it was your post) the other night about earwigs. I apparently don't have those nasty things...yay!
I'm never sure whether to keep posting on a thread or start a new one...so I just keep talking...
A bazillion ( or so ) DG'ers use theses for season extenders for growing plants.
Wow, Shirley! You are thinking big. How would that hold up in strong winds?
Earwigs? They are all over here. I even found one when we released the butterflies, on the outside of the net cage! I think they like the sugar water.
Scooterbug- please keep posting! I have no more butterflies to talk about! I would love to hear how you're progressing.
Konkreteblond- Thanks for all the info- You are a treasure!