This week we are learning about the proper names for the body of a Painted Lady butterfly as well as what the difference is between butterflies and moths. At the top of the head, the butterfly has two antennas with bulb-like shapes on the end. The antenna help the butterfly to smell and keep her balance. The proboscis is a long tube like structure that acts like a straw or the butterfly's tongue. When it's not being used she keeps it coiled tightly against her head. When the butterfly is drinking nectar from flowers she rolls is out and sucks the nectar up through the proboscis. The butterfly has two large eyes on either side of her head to help her spot predators and see where she's going. Unlike the eyes of her previous larvae or caterpillar stage, which could not see well at all, she grew a new set of eyes inside the chrysalis that work much better. The butterfly's body is made up of three parts: the head, thorax (middle section), and abdomen (bottom section). Like other insects, the butterfly has six thin legs and four beautiful wings. The top two wings are called frontwings and the lower two wings are called hindwings. Can you tell the difference between a |
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During week one we learned all about the life cycle of a Painted Lady butterfly. We learned that the life cycle is four stages: an egg, larvae (or caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis form), and a butterfly.
An adult Painted Lady butterfly will drink nectar from plants and then eventually the females will lay their eggs on a leaf, beginning the life cycle all over again! In the learning packages I prepared, I included worksheets for students to learn about the life cycle of Painted Ladies, I also posted daily videos of the larvae for them to document the process in their daily observation log.
Here is the learning package and observation log I created:
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Setting up the Larvae
The Painted Lady Larvae came in the Painted Lady kit that was mailed to the school. I picked up the kit once it arrived and brought it home. (I was working from home due to Covid 19). As I mentioned in my previous post, I have never raised butterflies before so I need to carefully read the instruction booklet before getting started.
The Wings and Wishes kit came with one large larvae container, one small larvae container, larvae food, paint brushes, and small plastic cups. I grabbed the netted cage from the school to house the butterflies. The smaller larvae container needed each tiny larvae separated into their own plastic cup with a piece of specially formulated food since there was not enough space or food in the small container for them to survive.
The Wings and Wishes kit came with one large larvae container, one small larvae container, larvae food, paint brushes, and small plastic cups. I grabbed the netted cage from the school to house the butterflies. The smaller larvae container needed each tiny larvae separated into their own plastic cup with a piece of specially formulated food since there was not enough space or food in the small container for them to survive.
Carefully and gently, I used the paintbrush to move each larvae one at a time into their individual cups with a small piece of food. I ended up with 27 cups.
The other larvae I didn't move as they had enough food in the larger container to feed them until they were ready to form their chrysalis.
Here's what it looked like once I was done. I am officially a caterpillar farmer!
I am so excited for you to join me on this butterfly adventure. I have never had the opportunity to be a part of raising butterflies, and I'm so glad you get to learn with me along the way.
Together we'll explore the world of these beautiful creatures by learning about their life cycle, anatomy, species, pollination and more, along with some creative art projects. Next week will technically be week zero (unless the folks who join do not need printed copies and are able to use digital files I send) and we will give people time to join, learn how to meet and observe our little butterfly larvae.
Welcome!
Here you will find links to resources, photos, and posts on the Butterfly project.