Butterfly Care

Getting Started
Hooray! You’ve received a cup of Painted Lady caterpillars! The caterpillars will be 1/4 to 1/2 inch long. They will become active and start growing in 2-3 days.

Remember to BE GENTLE when you handle the cup of caterpillars. Do not remove the plastic lid. It has air-holes. As caterpillars, they only need air and the food in the bottom of the cup.

Place your cup of caterpillars in a warm spot, out of direct sunlight.

ON THE FIRST DAY:
Using a marker or pen, draw one caterpillar’s length on the outside of your plastic cup. When your caterpillars are full-grown, you’ll be amazed to see how small they once were!

Make a Butterfly House or use the Butterfly House in the Basic Butterfly Kit
Your chrysalises will need protection while they change into butterflies. Make a butterfly house using a cardboard or plastic box. After the chrysalises are in the house, cover the top with plastic wrap.
See instructions at CelebratePlanetEarth.org/learning

Chrysalis to Butterfly
When the caterpillars are fully grown, they crawl to the top of the cup. They hang upside down & change into chrysalises.

Once they’ve all changed, wait two days & then transfer them to the butterfly house. Remove the plastic lid from the cup. Peel back the paper layer & lift it off the cup. Your chrysalises should stay attached to the paper & hang down. If one drops off of the paper, place it on the floor of your house, next to a wall.

Using a piece of tape, hang the paper layer on a wall inside the butterfly house.

Butterflies will emerge from chrysalises in 7 to 10 days. It will take them an hour or two to dry their wings. You may keep your butterflies in their house for 1-2 days. Once they begin to fly around their house, they are ready to go free.

It’s time to release your butterflies outside! Let them go on a warm, sunny day. The butterflies need to find flower nectar for energy. They will help pollinate trees, flowers & vegetables. They will create a new generation of butterflies.

Questions? Contact us at kids@CelebratePlanetEarth.org

Observing the Caterpillar Cup

The caterpillar cup is a clear, 10-ounce, plastic cup. It is covered
with a white plastic lid with tiny holes for ventilation. Under the lid is a cloth or paper cover that the caterpillars attach themselves to when they pupate.

DO NOT OPEN THE CUP!
The food will dry out quickly and become inedible. When all of the caterpillars form chrysalises, you can take off the lid and gently remove the cloth with all of the chrysalises attached. Tape the cloth inside the butterfly house.

At the bottom of the cup is a mixture of ground-up malva leaves, a caterpillar favorite, for the larvae to eat. There is enough food for the caterpillars to grow until they pupate.

There are 4-6 tiny Painted Lady caterpillars inside the cup, 1/4-1/2 inch long. They get more active and start eating in 1-2 days.

Caterpillars need 4 things to survive:
• AIR through the ventilation holes in the lid
• FOOD and WATER from the leaf mixture at the bottom
• SUNLIGHT through the clear cup