Caterpillars to Butterflies

Last month, we bought Mara a butterfly house, and we finally got her caterpillars last Monday. I was concerned how well they would grow since we keep our house fairly cool. I think it's safe to say that they are doing well.

Monday, December 5
We received the caterpillars today. They were much smaller than I was expecting them to be.

Sunday, December 11
Here they are only six days later. I think they're roughly 5 times the size they were when we got them.

Friday, December 16

We took them with us on our trip to San Antonio because they were due to go into their chrysalis state at any time. Here they are before we left.

Saturday, December 17

We're glad we took them because the caterpillars are definitely getting ready to form their chrysalids. Two of them are already in theirs, and the other three are now hanging out at the top of the container.

Sunday, December 18

Here's what they looked like when we woke up..

Saturday, December 24

We finally transferred them to the butterfly garden to await their emergence, and not too soon. A couple of them started to move when we were transporting them, so we may have butterflies sooner rather than later. However, the movement also caught Pixie's attention, and she knocked the garden off the wetbar before we had a chance to hang it up. So, now all five of the chrysalids are on the bottom of the garden instead of just the one that was at the bottom of the jar.

Wednesday, December 28

We have butterflies! Just yesterday, we were wondering if Pixie really did kill them, but I guess at least two survived. At least one of them came out a little messier than we thought because there's what looks like blood on the side of the garden.

Thursday, December 29

The last of our butterflies came out of their chrysalids today, so we now have five butterflies living in our bathroom. The kids are both enraptured with the butterflies.