Yesterday, we had our first butterflies emerge. It was so neat!!! We never got to see one actually climb out of its chrysalis, but we caught several within minutes of emerging with their wings still curled up.
We've now released 6 butterflies! Above is our first. I carried the lid out and Alexandra reached in to have the caterpillar crawl on her finger. (This photo is taken "blind" - I couldn't see the screen, but it turned out pretty neat!)
Now it's on her finger! But, it was still not ready to fly. It takes about 5 hours for its wings to be ready, and it had only been about 3. So, he walked around some.
And hopped up on her shirt!
We finally set it on the milkweed plant. I was really surprised at her spotted body! I thought it would be solid black, but it matches the edge of her wings, huh? (I'll post later about how I know this is a girl). I'm also curious as to why the butterflies seem to have only 4 legs. Don't all insects have 6??? Where are the other 2???
3 comments:
What a beautiful butterfly.
OMG! Those are the coolest pictures! I love the one with the butterfly on Alexandra's shirt. What an experience! I'm going to have to get some milkweed in the Spring for our house. I'm dying to try this.
Try looking for the last set of legs in front. They are shorter more like hands than legs.
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