In celebration of Ruth Krauss and Maurice Sendak’s book Open House for Butterflies, the Rowayton Historical Society partnered with the Rowayton Library to host a butterfly event this fall in which you could purchase a butterfly kit and hatch your own painted lady butterflies for release.
My husband and I were immediately sold (my inner nerd was psyched about the idea of a cool, science—and nature-themed activity for the girls), so we purchased a kit. In late September, we picked up our kit courtesy of Butterflies & Blueberries, Inc., which included a butterfly net, feeding cup, sponge, and four containers holding two larvae each, along with food for the larvae.
For about a week or so, our job was easy. We did nothing but watch as our caterpillars doubled in size almost every day (I am not exaggerating!) and eventually formed chrysalises. Once the chrysalises were formed, we transferred them to the butterfly net and waited for several days. And, then eight beautiful butterflies emerged!
Painted ladies live for approximately two to three weeks. We kept our butterflies for about a week or so before releasing them. During that time, we had to mist the butterfly net with water every day using a spray bottle and feed them either a sugar solution or Gatorade (apparently, they are fans of the Fierce Grape flavor and will settle for orange or tropical punch flavors—who knew?) every other day.
Both girls thoroughly enjoyed watching the caterpillars grow and the butterflies once they had hatched. It was amazing to see how quickly the caterpillars transformed, even just overnight. It was also fascinating to learn how noisy butterflies can be, especially at night!
As part of the event, the Rowayton Historical Society held a butterfly release in Pinkney Park in Rowayton. We were unable to attend that day but held our own release “party” the following day. It was admittedly slightly anti-climatic as I had romantic notions of lifting the cover to the net and watching as the butterflies flew out into the sky.
In reality, we had to more than coax them out of the net and essentially place them on flowers throughout the small garden in the park, but it did the give the girls an opportunity to watch the butterflies flit around on flowers and even their hands.
In addition to observing the butterfly lifecycle, we also read several butterfly-themed books. Gotta Go! Gotta Go! and Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly proved to be favorites.
This was such a great, fun experience. We can’t wait to hatch some more butterflies, perhaps in the spring!
If you are interested in hatching your own butterflies, here are some helpful resources.
Sounds like such a cool activity! I was bummed that we missed this but good to know that we can buy kits online. I guess we’ll have to wait until February though!
It was really cool. We kept our net and feeding dish, so I think I’m going to order some in February and do it again. The girls loved it.