Friday, May 16, 2014

Feeding Caterpillars

              We raise Painted Lady butterflies every year. 
Every year I follow the instructions and mix up the food that is supplied.    
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   It’s a light brown substance that smells slightly like oatmeal. 
       We never see them eat it as it always looks the same.
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This year when the caterpillars arrived, I posted pictures on our
Facebook page.  A StrongStart facilitator from down island commented
that they feed their Painted Lady caterpillars leaves from the Lupin plant.
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I really liked the idea of using a plant to feed them.  Actually to see
them eat and see the leaves disappear would be more meaningful.
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On Monday I added a plant.  At first the caterpillars didn’t climb up the plant so I picked some leaves and brought them down.  As you can see it didn’t take them
long to find and devour them.
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We added some sticks and they began to climb.  It was amazing to watch
them move around the plant and hang from the leaves.
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       By Thursday most of the leaves were looking skeletal.
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This morning I added a second plant, knowing that we will be closed
for three days, so worried they wouldn’t run out of food.
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          They still have their dry food and they are still eating it. 
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I’m looking forward to seeing where they will form their chrysalis. 
If it will be on the plant, under the remaining leaves or on the sticks
we’ve provided.