Transformation

Still doing some blog catch-up. Back in April, our "LIVE INSECTS" arrived in the mail. Surely one day Tate will appreciate the sacrifice I made on this one. The fact that I willingly did something with LIVE INSECTS says a lot for how much I love this kiddo. :)

It was quite a process and transformation to watch. I would've been totally fine if you just keep the box closed for 2 weeks and then open it to beautiful butterflies. Pretty sure, that would've missed the point. So I got over my own heebie-jeebies and helped Tate open our box to find...

Caterpillars. Yep nothing real pretty about these creatures. Scaly, spiny caterpillars.

After a week or so, they migrate up to the top of the cup and form something that makes them stick there. Then they just get really still. This is the part where I started to get a little stressed. It seems so bizarre that they have to be kept still, so they can form cocoons (not the real term, I know), so they can turn into butterflies. It's just weird. And stressful. We were all rooting for them!

And wouldn't you know it, over time, these thin paper-like shell things called chrysallids formed around each of them. Tate was not near as impressed as I was. I showed them off like a proud caterpillar-turned-chrysallid mom to anyone that walked thru our house.

So then there was the creepy moment. After they are good and coccooned up, you transfer them into the butterfly habitat. By this point, it had been at least a week or so of them being completely still. You almost forget there is something living and growing inside there. Here's a video to show the little scare they gave me.

After I Googled "chrysallid is shaking," I was reassured that this is normal. :) And after almost an hour, freaky chrysallid guy decided to calm down again and return to his stillness state. Guess my transfer skills were a little traumatizing. Sorry!

So over the next few days, we were always checking up on the little guys to see if there was any change. And then all of a sudden...there were butterflies! We were all bummed that we never saw the butterfly emerge from the chrysallid, though. But they all made it and their purpose in life was complete!

We enjoyed them for a couple of days, but it was finally time for the release.

This part was not near "the moment" I had envisioned. Those stinkers would NOT come out. It was time for the big send-off into the real world, but they seemed happy just staying inside the little mesh habitat...thank you very much. Even our cheers of "Be free! Fly!" did nothing. Tate lost patience waiting after about five minutes. So I did some delicate maneuvering and got three of the five on their way.

Goodbye friends, it's been fun...and gross/fascinating/stressful/beautiful!

But there were still two left in there. We were in the backyard for at least 45 minutes, and they would not fly out of there. I felt bad, but had to move on to dinner and bedtime, so I left the habitat outside. Maybe they wanted some privacy? At 10:00 pm, there was still one stubborn little guy in there. Finally by the morning, he had found his wings, so to speak, and was gone.

Overall, it was a good little project. At almost 4 1/2 years old, Tate thought it was cool and interesting. He wasn't necessarily mesmerized by it, but definitely enjoyed it. We had a helpful book on caterpillars turning into butterflies to go along with it.

Despite the freaky and gross moments, I thought it was all quite fascinating and wonderful to watch.