LCC Summer Butterfly Project
We love monarch butterflies. We just adore them! Last summer our LCC kids got to observe and care for monarchs from caterpillars all the way to butterflies. Here is our story! We’ve also included simple directions and tips to hatch your own at home. We hope that you’ll share your experiences with us with stories and photos on our facebook, instagram, or send an email to Molly
Monarch caterpillars love milkweed! In fact it’s the only thing they eat! They munch their way through the leaves and grow and grow!
Here is the chrysalis stage. Notice in the first picture the chrysalis is a beautiful green. It has some little golden dots around the top. Eventually we could see a butterfly had formed inside. When the butterfly finally wiggled out it hung on the clear shell for a while to dry its damp wings.
Did you know you can tell if a monarch is a boy or a girl? Male monarchs have two dots on their hindwings. Female butterflies don’t have any dots on their hindwings. So cool!
Butterflies have sticky little feet. It felt like they were tickling us !Here are two of our monarchs getting ready to fly away. Eventually they did but I think we had taken such good care of them that they kind of wanted to stay with us!
Tips for raising monarch butterflies:
Here’s what you’ll need:
Milkweed (fresh sprigs daily)
Monarch caterpillar
Clear container
Small piece of screen
large rubber band (optional)
Once you’ve gathered your supplies the last thing to do is place the milkweed and caterpillar (or several caterpillars!) in the container. I like to cover the container with some screen and a rubber band . The caterpillar will nibble and nosh for about two weeks until it is fully grown. Then the caterpillar will search around the container and find the perfect spot to attach itself and form a chrysalis. 10-14 days and a lot of changes later a new and beautiful butterfly will emerge! After hanging and beating its wings for a few hours the butterfly is ready to fly. Bon Voyage little friend!
