Butterfly Adventure--continued

drying his/her wings

JASON--CHECK IT OUT!! THE CATERPILLARS HATCHED!!

Yesterday, we had one lonely butterfly hatch. We were
worried about the other four, since we could see no movement. Within an hour this morning, the other four hatched. Amazingly, we didn't see one of them escape the cocoon. Bummer! We did see how they sat & let their wings dry, and how they were able to extend them to get used to having them. It must be weird to got to sleep as a worm, and wake up with these large things on your back.

sitting on a leaf just after hatching

From the back, they look brownish with eyes...but when opened, they are beautiful red-ish orange with spots. They are painted ladies variety, and very pretty. We will keep them inside for a day or two, and plan to release them on Saturday. Watch for more pictures! It's been hard to get them in the habitat, since it is mesh, and the camera picks up nothing but white mesh. The pictures you can see, and through the door that we can put fresh flowers in for them. Bear with us, and look for more pictures on Saturday!

These guys just hatched...still sitting next to their cocoon