Blossoming Butterflies

Butterfly larva are the eggs of a butterfly and they will be laid during the spring or summer. Most of the time, butterfly larva can be found underneath the leaves of a plant and will hatch within 3 days. For example, monarch butterflies can be found on milkweed plants.

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Caring for Larva

Gently rinse the leaf with the eggs with water (do this only once). Get a small plastic container with a lid (poke a few small holes into the lid) and place a paper towel on the bottom of it. Then, place the leaf with the eggs (egg-side up) in the container. If you have multiple leaves with eggs, be sure to spread out the eggs from each other so that when they hatch they don’t eat each other. Keep the container inside your home, avoid putting it near windows so the container becomes dry. The larva will hatch in about 3 days.

Once butterfly larva hatch, they become caterpillars, devouring leaves to accommodate for their rapid growth. After about 10-12 days caterpillars hang from a stem and form a chrysalis. 

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Caring for Caterpillars

To provide a home for the caterpillar, get a medium-large plastic container (like a one gallon jar) with a lid and poke small holes in the lid to allow air to flow into the container. Make sure the container is large enough to fit multiple caterpillars in so that they can spread their wings when they become butterflies. Also, place a paper towel on the bottom of the container make it easy to clean. You will have to replace the paper towel every other day to keep it clean. Next, add some twigs or sticks to your container so the caterpillars can hang from to make a chrysalises (cocoon) from. Put some twigs on the bottom and some leaning against the walls of the container. Caterpillars eat leaves from their host plant and you will need to provide new washed leaves everyday.

When a caterpillar becomes a chrysalis, they are transforming into a beautiful butterfly! Usually, butterflies will emerge from their chrysalis between 7-14 days, however, they sometimes emerge much later as some hibernate through the winter to hatch in the spring.  You do not need to do much to take care of a chrysalis. The only thing you need to do is make sure nothing can mess with the chrysalis and knock it down.

When the chrysalis starts to change color
that means the butterfly will emerge from
it in the next 1-2 days. Depending on the
species, some chrysalises will turn darker
and others clear. If the chrysalis is
extremely dark, that means the caterpillar
inside is dead.
Once butterflies emerge from their
chrysalis, they will stay still on their empty
chrysalis for about 3-4 hours to pump
blood to their new wings. After that, they
will be ready to fly and be set free!