Growing Painted Ladies: Day 3

Kenzie received some bugs for her birthday. Yay! We love bugs! The caterpillars arrived quickly for the Butterfly boutique, although we are still waiting on our ants for the ant farm. Funny that we're fighting a war on little tiny ants in the kitchen right now, which happens every year around these parts. Yet, we mail off for live ants and willingly invite them indoors to live with us, at the same time. :)

We have begun the fascinating journey of watching the caterpillars grow. It's astonishing really how much they've changed in two days. Kenzie spends a lot of time just like this:



The caterpillars have doubled in size. They will eat, eat, eat at the food on the bottom until ready to form their chrysalides. The caterpillars must stay out of direct sunlight and the lids to the containers must stay intact. And, um...no shaking!! :) The painted lady butterflies will spend seven to ten days in this stage of life. As they eat and grow, they spin a little silk, which allows them to move easily about the cups. Little green balls of waste, called "frass" are accumulating at the bottom of the cup, atop their food. Yum?



I'll make sporadic updates on the buggy endeavors here - for those who'd like to witness the infestation, er, I mean, transformation from afar.