Showing posts with label butterflies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label butterflies. Show all posts

May 7, 2010

Freedom!

Today was the day. Our little butterflies had gained strength, and were ready to fly out into the world. We set the pavilion in the backyard, unzipped the top, and watched them take their turn at finding their freedom.


One little butterfly immediately landed on Kyle's arm!


I was able to get a few shots of this one while he sat in the grass and got his bearings before fluttering off to the world beyond our backyard.


The project was a messy one, but I'd do again in a heartbeat! To watch their transformation, and then to set them free was like watching a miracle. Go to insect lore to buy your own caterpillars and watch the miracle in your home. You won't be disappointed.

May 4, 2010

We Have Painted Ladies!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17

What a great miracle to behold! Those nasty, ugly caterpillars turned into beautiful butterflies.


Apr 29, 2010

Metamorphis In Progress

We learned that the chrysalides might shake while in the pavilion. Apparently, the shaking is a method of protection. When we moved the chrysalides from their former home into their current one, they started shaking like crazy! Now, after being transferred to the pavilion, they are resting peacefully, and we have not seen anymore violent shaking.

Now the wait for their final transformation begins!

Apr 27, 2010

Spring Books

Product Details Product Details Product Details

These are just few of the books we've been enjoying this spring. We will be moving our chrysalides to their new home in the butterfly pavilion soon, so stay tuned for pictures!

Product Details

Apr 25, 2010

Making a Cocoon

Our caterpillars have made rapid changes in the eight days that we have had them. They've gone from tiny little, almost cute, caterpillars to big, ugly caterpillars. Lots of words have been used to describe our critters in the last few days--words like gross, disgusting, and yucky. We've had them sitting on our kitchen counter so that we could easily watch them and not forget about them; however, in hind sight, maybe watching butterfly larvae while you are attempting to make a delicious dinner or prepare yourself an afternoon snack was not the best plan.

Here are our caterpillars on day six. They were making their way to the lid of the container they are kept in.

Here they are today--day eight. One little fellow is not a rule follower as you can see he made his cocoon in the middle of the container. They are supposed to make their cocoons on the lid for easy removal to the butterfly pavilion later.
Mmm... I can see that some brave soul may actually have to touch him to get him in the right place. We are also waiting for another caterpillar to finish making his cocoon before they can be transferred to their new home in the butterfly pavilion. Even though the larvae grossed us out, I have to say that new words are being used to describe the larvae in their cocoons. Cool! Neat! Wow! We are looking forward to the last stage in the butterfly life cycle!

Apr 17, 2010

Painted Ladies

I am NOT an insect lover. I like nature until it comes to bugs. But, I do like butterflies. Clothed in so many different colors and patterns, butterflies are another display of God's glory. So, I decided to go for it. We bought a butterfly habitat and sent off for our larvae. They came today!

The beauty of this kit is that I don't even have to touch them in their larva stage. They arrived in this cup complete with air holes and food for their first stage of life.

Looking for signs of life

I think the day our Painted Ladies hatch from their chrysalis, the process will have been worth the effort on our part.

Jun 3, 2009

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog! The kids and I wanted to start this nature blog to share what we are learning about God's wonderful creation.

This picture is one of my favorites because it shows how clingy the Question Mark butterflies can be. We saw lots of these butterflies at the butterfly pavilion last week.