Ashley's pet caterpillar
The girls'piano teacher caught sight of a big caterpillar at our backyard three weeks ago and the two jiejies promptly made a home for the greedy green creature. I called it Ashley's first pet since she was the only one who has not witnessed the life cycle of a caterpillar-turn-butterfly. I thought it will be a great opportunity to teach her some Science. :P
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Examining her pet caterpillar.
This caterpillar sure eats a lot! We have to fill up the jar with new leaves everyday and it will all be devoured up at the end of the day. It's amazing the amount of output this little caterpillar can produce too. The amount that piles up in a day is easily more than half its size.
After a few days of incessant munching, there came one day where the caterpillar refuses to eat and just crawl round and round inside the container. I thought it was rather strange but after I googled, it says some caterpillars lose their appetite before turning into a chrysalis. A few days later, it turned brown and looks like a cocoon. I vividly remembered that my previous chrysalis was green in colour. (http://bits-n-bites.livejournal.com/tag/butterfly) Anyway, we kept it for the next two weeks and I must say I was on the verge of dumping the whole thing into the bin as it really looks like it's dead. Thankfully, I did not dispose it prematurely, after almost two weeks, out came a yellow and black insect.
See that dark brown shell, that's the cocoon.
Anyway, the insect does not exactly looks like a pretty butterfly but I suspect that may be because the wings are not properly developed. It's a butterfly that could not fly. Nonetheless, I released it on the green patch outside our house near the bunch of periwinkles. I hope the butterfly is happy with its new abode.
.
Examining her pet caterpillar.
This caterpillar sure eats a lot! We have to fill up the jar with new leaves everyday and it will all be devoured up at the end of the day. It's amazing the amount of output this little caterpillar can produce too. The amount that piles up in a day is easily more than half its size.
After a few days of incessant munching, there came one day where the caterpillar refuses to eat and just crawl round and round inside the container. I thought it was rather strange but after I googled, it says some caterpillars lose their appetite before turning into a chrysalis. A few days later, it turned brown and looks like a cocoon. I vividly remembered that my previous chrysalis was green in colour. (http://bits-n-bites.livejournal.com/tag/butterfly) Anyway, we kept it for the next two weeks and I must say I was on the verge of dumping the whole thing into the bin as it really looks like it's dead. Thankfully, I did not dispose it prematurely, after almost two weeks, out came a yellow and black insect.
See that dark brown shell, that's the cocoon.
Anyway, the insect does not exactly looks like a pretty butterfly but I suspect that may be because the wings are not properly developed. It's a butterfly that could not fly. Nonetheless, I released it on the green patch outside our house near the bunch of periwinkles. I hope the butterfly is happy with its new abode.