Butterflies

This has been such a fun project at our house. I hope the kids want to do it again next year. The only draw back is that the caterpillars and chrysalis' don't smell all that great. Other than that, the life of a Monarch is unbelievable.

We started with these little guys....Jack couldn't get enough of them.

When they are ready to make a chrysalis, they make a J, like this.

Then they shed their skin and made a chrysalis. Remember?Before they get ready to hatch, it would appear that they turn black. However, the chrysalis isn't black at all, it's just the black of the Monarch's wings that you see.She the wings?The chrysalis is actually clear.Here are a couple of them after they hatched.You have to make sure their wings are fully dried before you try to set them free. Here is one that we took out too soon.I ended up bringing it back in so the wings could dry more.

Did you know they migrate to Mexico? If you have a 2nd grader you sure do.

Did you know that you can tell the difference between boys and girls? Here is a picture of a boy. I didn't make the caption big enough, but it says "This is how you can tell it's a boy. There is a swelling in the line." I had no idea!

And would you believe that I got video of one hatching? You'll be able to hear that I'm a little excited about it. Ok, so I was a lot excited about it. I couldn't believe that I got video of one making the chrysalis and coming out.

What a wonderful, beautiful and simply amazing process!