Tuesday, May 20, 2008

This is soooo cool! Fun in the Bug House!


My kids have done this in school and I've seen this on t.v. but this is the first year we've tried it at home. it's a kit that allows you to watch a caterpillar change into a butterfly.
First you send away for some caterpillars
and they send you a cup with 5 caterpillars and enough food to last the duration of their pupal stage.


Then, after a bout a week of eatting, they crawl to the top of the jar, continue to spin protective silk, (like their own little rooms) and then the hang upside down and turn into a cocoon.
It's pretty amazing. In just a matter of minutes they transform from the J position, like the guy on the right, to shedding their outter skin and legs and a plastic-like film covers their head and top part (whatever it's called. On a human it would be our chest)
If your lucky you can catch this process, but it's hard. You have to be there at just the right time. It happens fast.

Once all of the caterpillars are in their cocoons, it's time to put them in the Fun Bug Tree House, as pictured below.

The lid of the jar is lined with a thin paper, where the caterpillars attach themselves.
You take the paper out, and pin it to the inside wall of the Bug House.
We did that today. Now, in about a week, we'll have some butterflies.
We'll fill the bug house with flowers and sugar water for their food, and then after a couple of days we will release them.
Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures of them hatching. Is it called "hatching" for butterflies?
Well, whatever it is when butterflies emerge from their cocoons.

I feel some sort of writing analogy coming through . . . .

updates to come

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is way too amazing. Sorry I hadn't seen it before. Carissa looks scared.

Unknown said...

This is great. What a wonderful experience for your children. This is a very nice way to bring nature home!
Kathy Jacoby

Unknown said...

This is great. What a wonderful experience for your children. This is a very nice way to bring nature home!
Kathy Jacoby

Unknown said...

This is great. What a wonderful experience for your children. This is a very nice way to bring nature home!
Kathy Jacoby