Painted Ladies
Second grade students in Mrs. Snyders' classroom have been learning about Painted Lady butterflies. The larvae arrived on in mid-September in a cup with small air holes around the rim of the container. The caterpillars spent the first 7 to 10 days in their larval stage of life. During this time, the larvae ate nutrients from the bottom of the cup. As the caterpillars grew, they spun a little silk. The silk allowed the caterpillars to move about more easily and protected them. We noticed green balls of caterpillar waste, or "frass," accumulating.
As the caterpillars entered the pupal stage, they crawled to the top of the cup and hung upside down. We were not able to disturb them during this time. Within two days, the caterpillars curled up and hardened into beautiful iridescent chrysalids. The old body parts of the caterpillars underwent a remarkable change to form the new parts of the adult butterfly.
Once all of the caterpillars formed chrysalids, it was time to open up the cup and take out the paper disk with the chrysalids attached. We pinned the paper disc to the lower inside wall of our butterfly habitat.
The first Painted Lady butterfly emerged about seven days later. The butterflies excrete a red liquid as they emerge. The kids all thought it was blood. The red liquid is actually called meconium. The meconium is made up of the leftover coloring and tissues from the butterfly's formation.
Once the butterflies emerged, we started feeding them a mixture of 3 teaspoons of sugar into one cup of water. We sprinkled the sugar water mixture onto some carnations. The butterflies drank from the droplets of water like dewdrops. We also found out that butterflies like to drink from freshly-cut orange or watermelon slices. We placed the fruit in their habitat when it was available.
Butterflies are beneficial to the environment! Painted Lady butterflies live throughout the USA, and most of the world, where they work hard to pollinate flowers. The seeds and fruit from these pollinations create food for other wildlife.
The adult butterflies have a normal life span of 2 to 4 weeks. We released the butterflies on Friday, November 16th. The outside air temperature had to be above 55 degrees before we could release them. Our butterflies were very cooperative, and every child was able to handle one before we released them. Check out the cute pictures of our class with the butterflies.
Fun Painted Lady Facts:
- Her scientific name is Vanessa cardui L.
- She can lay up to 500 eggs.
- She is the most widely distributed butterfly in the world.
- She may travel 1,000 miles in her lifetime.
- She breathes through her abdomen.
- She tastes with her feet.
- She has 10,000 eyes.
If you are interested in ordering your own Painted Lady butterflies, I have posted the web site and phone number below.
Phone: 1-800-213-6124
