The Not So Hungry Caterpillars

We visited Oh Chin Huat Hydroponics Farm about 2 weeks ago and came home with a butterfly kit. They have a small butterfly lodge. The kit consisted of a plastic container with a netted cover, two caterpillars, some leaves and a piece of instructions stuck onto the container.



Although it was meant for Sophie to witness the metamorphosis, I think We were all a lot more excited than she was. Of course we read about it and saw pictures of the butterfly at each stage. But, we have NEVER actually seen caterpillars change into butterflies.



The caterpillars, John and Paul, stopped eating on the second day. I was so worried. I knew they stopped eating to pupate but I did not actually expect them to stay motionless for a couple of days before they started pupating. Imagine my relief when I saw them upside down. Yet, it took a while more before they started pupating.



John and Paul was in their pupa stage until this morning. I checked on them as usual and to my pleasant surprise, Paul had turned into a butterfly! Unfortunately, John's pupa turned black and dropped off. Paul was resting the whole morning, pumping blood into his wings. Again, I got the shock of my life when I saw his blood splatter everywhere. I thought it was dying! Apparently, it was normal because hours later, it was able to fly off when we set it free at Upper Peirce Reservoir.

I am not sure if Sophie understood any of this. She was very eager to check on the caterpillars but the chrysalis did not interest her at all. This morning, she was very excited to see the butterfly and she seemed a little sad when we set it free. I am glad she has never shown any fear when we held the caterpillar and touch the butterfly. I took the opportunity to make her a lapbook based on The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and let her sleep with her caterpillar plush toy at night. I was quite ambitious to have drawn almost all the pictures myself... I guess next time, I would be using clipart because it was too time-consuming.