The Butterfly Chronicles

As most of you know, from a previous post, we were foster parents to two caterpillars named Hermie and Wormie. Since our visit to the Butterfly Place on April 11th, our two caterpillars have gone through some amazing transformations. It was a wonderful way to combine science and nature for Ethan's homeschooling class as well.

Following are some pictures we took along the way, as well as a video at the end with the release of Hermie. Joshua was thrilled at seeing the butterfly "freak out" as I put it, inside the butterfly box when we took him outside into the sunshine. He was less than thrilled, however, when he realized we were actually going to open the box, and release this "deadly creature" into the world. You'll see what I mean on the video.

The other thing to point out is how Ethan hadn't connected the end of this journey with the fact that he would not see Hermie again. We had tried to explain this to him, but as it tends to go, experience is the best teacher. My heart broke for him, but it has been a great lesson to learn. Speaking of broken hearts, we were also able to learn another lesson...this one about death. Wormie didn't make it. He never formed his chrysalis correctly, and when he tried to emerge from it, his wings hadn't fully formed. He died the next day, as he was unable to fly. Very sad, and of course traumatic to a 5 yr.old as he tries to wrap his mind around the finality of it all.

In any case, I hope you enjoy the following pictures and video. We had a great time.

This was the day we brought them home. They were soooo tiny, we had a difficult time photographing them because the flash would bounce off the plastic vile. I'm not sure what kind of food was at the bottom of that container, but it served as their nourishment for the entire time we had them. We didn't need to open it, or pop holes in the top, it was a self contained environment for them.

At the end of the first week, they had more than doubled in size. (I wonder if that food is gluten free, maybe I could feed some of it to my kiddos!) They have a lot of webbing inside the container, and they constantly "shed" their outer layer as they get bigger.

Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of them at the end of the 2nd week, (which would have been on a Friday), and by the time we got around to taking the picture, (on that Sunday) Hermie and Wormie had decided to move on to the next phase of their lives. They were so big as caterpillars, they filled out most of the container. Simply amazing, that they were able to squish their chubby bodies into these tiny little things. If you look closely, the one on the right is Wormie. he never really finished doing his chrysalis.

Here is Hermie, a week later, freshly emerged from his chrysalis. We couldn't appreciate the beauty of his color as this point, as he was still drying and recuperating after the ordeal of emerging from that tiny home of his. We had to place a cotton ball soaked in a mixture of sugar and water 1:10 ratio. At one point, I checked on him and like he knew what he was supposed to do, he was sitting on top of the cotton ball with his tongue inside drinking up the sugar water.

It took him about two days to dry out and gain some strength. We knew he was ready when he began to "freak out" inside of this box. Ethan loved the term, and now uses it constantly. Anyhow, Hermie didn't really freak out until we brought him outside into the bright sunshine. His instincts told him this was what he wanted, and boy did he want out! I was surprised that I actually got this shot of him, because for the most part, he wouldn't stop fluttering around long enough to see the beautiful colors on those wings.