A friend gave us Painted Lady Butterfly caterpillars and I already feel bad for them. They are in these little plastic cups with mush to eat and tiny air holes in the lid. Here soon, they'll attach themselves to the lid and make the chrysalides. Then we have to tape these lids to the top of a butterfly cage and wait for them to emerge. Their little lives will be a mere 2-4 weeks. In that cage.
But I'm gonna set them free. After they emerge and my boys get to see them, we're gonna go out back and let them go. The paperwork says we're not supposed to but I just can't help myself.
It's gonna be a glorious day.
Until then, we will continue to watch them eat and poop and produce silky strands.
I may even try to get a stills video of the metamorphosis.
To be continued...
~R
We did that a few times. Lyssa still has the butterfly house somewhere in the pit. Er, her bedroom.
ReplyDeleteThe literature we received did not say that we can't let them go, though. Perhaps it's due to geography? Although I think painted lady butterflies are everywhere.
So we let them all go except one that would not be able to survive on its own. Had a deformed wing and proboscis.
She named it 'Tweak'.
It was the guest of honor at her 8th birthday party.
Tweak was buried under some daffodils in the back yard.
what? you're not supposed to release them?
ReplyDeleteYeah, something about being laboratory bred and not recommended by the USDA, blah blah. Rational thought would say they are totally sterile coming from a lab so shouldn't have any crazy pest disease or whatever they are worried about. And yes, we see this type every spring so I know we are not introducing anything that isn't already here.
ReplyDeleteRIP Tweak.