Chrysalide

We had a conversation with J’s sister about her time as a nursery school teacher. One of the things the little ones did every year was watch caterpillars turn into chrysalides from which butterflies would then in due course emerge. Metamorphosis is an extraordinary process.

Why should four year olds have all the fun ? I ordered a starter kit which included five tiny caterpillars and all the associated “gear”. After eight days they had shed five exoskeletons and grown incredibly. And they were starting to pupate. Today I transferred them into their butterfly habitat. They really vibrated as I moved them - a mechanism chrysalides use to deter predators. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next two weeks. If all goes well we should have five painted lady butterflies, which when they’re ready I will release.

The painted lady has the longest migration of any butterfly, twice the distance of the North American monarch butterfly. It is only very recently that the wintering grounds have been found, in the dry regions north of Africa’s tropical rainforests.