Instructions for Butterfly Kits
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Rearing Kits
Congratulations, you are about to
watch part of the incredible life cycle of the Painted Lady Butterfly!
Expect the change from caterpillar to butterfly to take approximately 3
weeks and for the resulting butterflies to live 2 to 4 weeks.
Your Kit Contains
* Covered Cup with 5 caterpillars and food
* Pop-Up Butterfly Habitat, which can be reused
* Mister to mist the chrysalis and butterflies
* 2 Packets of sugar to make a feeding solution for your butterflies
* Eye Dropper - to dispense the sugar solution
* Butterfly feeder with cotton wick
You will need to Provide
* Water and a small bowl to mix and store the sugar solution
*Optional – Pieces of fruit. Butterflies like watermelon, banana, and
oranges.
Caring for your Caterpillars
Your caterpillars only need the food on the bottom of their Cup to
thrive and grow. In the wild they like mallow and hollyhock plants,
but our special concentrated diet is great for them. Now watch as they
eat, crawl, spin silk and grow to many times their original size! Don’t
worry if they do not move for the first day or so, this is normal.
While they are eating and growing you will see little balls on the bottom of
the Cup that are the caterpillars “frass” or waste. It should be
left in the Cup. While the caterpillars are in the Cup you may gently pick
up the Cup to look at them but do not shake it or be rough with them.
Important: Keep your caterpillar
Cup at room temperature (68°
to 78°F)
and out of direct sunlight. Direct sunlight may cause condensation in
the Cup, which is not healthy for the caterpillars. Also, keep the lid
on the Cup at all times to prevent introducing bacteria into it.
Changing from Caterpillar to Chrysalis
At normal room temperature your caterpillars should take 5 to 10 days to
grow large enough to make the fascinating change from caterpillar to
chrysalis. When they are ready to change your caterpillars will climb
to the top of the Cup and attach themselves, by strands of silk, to the
special Disk that is under the lid of the cup. They will hang upside
down from the Disk and make a “J” shape.
Once they are in the “J” shape, their body will change into a chrysalis
and they will shed a very thin layer of outer skin that you may not even
see. During the first day while their chrysalis is forming it is very
important that they are not disturbed and you must be very careful not to
move or jiggle the Cup. This is the most vulnerable stage in the
development of a butterfly.
Caring for your Chrysalides
24 hours after ALL of the caterpillars have formed chrysalides is the
best time to move them into the Pop-Up Habitat. By this time they
should all be firmly attached to the Disk under the lid of the cup. To
move them to the Habitat you are going to move the whole Disk, not the
individual chrysalides. First, pop up the habitat, then gently open the Cup
and remove the Disk, being very careful not to disturb the chrysalides.
Using the green hook under the lid, hang the Disk securely to an inside wall
(not the top) of the Habitat. The chrysalides will be hanging downward and
laying against the Disk. If any of your chrysalides become detached
from the Disk gently lay them on a napkin on the floor of the Habitat next
to a side wall. The chances are good that they will still emerge as healthy
butterflies. Once every day use the Mister to give them a gentle mist
of room temperature water. They will do better if misted but are OK
without it. Too much misting is worse than no misting. As with
the Cups, the Habitat should be kept at room temperature and out of direct
sunlight.
Birth of your Butterflies
Approximately 7 to 10 days after they have made their chrysalis your
butterfly will emerge. Although, from the outside, the 7 to 10 days of
the chrysalis phase seems to be a time when nothing is happening, it is
really a time of rapid change. Within the chrysalis the old body parts of
the caterpillar are undergoing a remarkable transformation, called
metamorphosis, to become the beautiful parts that make up the butterfly that
will emerge.
The chrysalides will get darker as the time
to emerge gets closer. Keep your eyes on them now as you may get to
witness the birth of a butterfly! As a butterfly emerges, it will hold
onto the Disk in a vertical position while stretching its wings to full
size. Don’t be alarmed if you see a red liquid, which may look like
blood, coming from the tail of the butterfly. This is called Meconium.
It’s a waste product left over from the butterfly’s metamorphosis.
When a butterfly emerges its wings are soft
and folded and it cannot fly. Over a period of 1 to 2 hours the
butterfly stretches and strengthens its wings by forcing blood into their
veins. During this time be careful not to touch or jiggle the habitat
and do not try to touch the newly emerged butterflies. Only 1 to 2
hours after emerging the wings will be full-sized and completely hardened.
Your butterfly is now fully-grown and ready for flight. You can then reach
into the habitat and remove the Disk and chrysalis remains.
Feeding, Observing and Releasing your Butterflies
The normal lifespan of a butterfly is 2 to 4 weeks. You will want to observe
your butterflies for a few days before you release them from the Habitat.
Butterflies will not eat the first day but after that you need to feed them
(see instructions below.)
Butterflies eat by unrolling their proboscis
(like a tongue) and drinking sweetened water. When they are finished
they roll their proboscis back up. Butterflies taste with their feet.
You can use the Eye Dropper to place a drop of sugar water near the feet of
a butterfly resting on the side of the cage to see if they feed on it.
Butterflies also like to drink from slices of freshly cut watermelon, banana
or orange. Once every day use the Mister to give the butterflies a gentle
mist of room temperature water.
To feed your butterflies make a sugar
solution by mixing a single sugar packet in 1/4 cup of water. Fill the
feeder cup almost to the top and replace the lid. The cotton wick will stay
moist and the butterflies will drink the sugar water from the moist wick.
Set the feeder on the floor of the Habitat. Keep extra sugar water
refrigerated between feedings. Rinse and refill the feeder (no soap) once a
week. If you run out of sugar solution you can make more by mixing 1tsp of
real sugar with 4 oz of water.
After observing your butterflies for a few days we recommend that you
release them into their natural environment. This way they can
continue their normal life cycle and breed and lay the eggs that will become
caterpillars. Your butterflies are not likely to breed within the
Habitat because they prefer plants for laying their eggs. Painted Ladies
live throughout North America so you can safely release them anywhere.
When temperatures are above 55°F
it is safe to release your butterflies. Once released, the butterflies can
often be seen for several days in the vicinity of their release. If it
is too chilly, you can keep them inside for their full lifespan.
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order? Call 1-800-405-1497