We use a large fish tank to house them, and a piece of window screen with an elastic band to top the tank. To keep their parsley fresh, we use a small plastic container with holes in the lid. We filled the container with potting soil, soaked with water.

The parsley is pushed into the holes in the container lid. The water keeps it fresh and the dirt helps to hold it upright.

All the holes are filled with parsley. It’s amazing how quickly the caterpillars will eat everything put out for them.

In the tank, there is also a small vase with parsley. This is the “nursery” where we keep eggs and newly hatched caterpillars as they are too small to put with the larger ones. The larger caterpillars are becoming so voracious they might eat the parsley right out from under the tiny ones.

If you look closely, you will also see the sticks we put into the tank for chrysalis formation.

Newspaper lining the bottom makes cleanup easy. The caterpillars are eating and pooping machines. The only other things they do are rest and molt. Here’s a video I took of one of our caterpillars eating a parsley leaf. In real time. I didn’t speed it up! Click here.

We now have ten chrysalises and another caterpillar will be a chrysalis by tomorrow. Two others have failed to develop properly. DH brought more parsley in this AM and found two newly hatched caterpillars on one stem. They are so tiny! We put them in the nursery vase and will keep an eye on them.

Because it is late in the season, the butterflies may not emerge until next April or May. We shall see!

~~Rhonda

The Butterfly House is in a large atrium, with butterflies everywhere!

At the far end of the atrium was a lovely little resting spot, overlooking the lake just outside the glass.

The house rule is “No touching the butterflies.” The butterflies operate under no such rule, though. They are free to touch you if they want to.

The nursery is fascinating. You can watch the butterflies emerging from the cocoons.

Look how big!

Besides the atrium, there were many displays to enjoy.

There were other insects to explore, including these millipedes.

DS27 and DDIL joined us for the day.

DD particularly enjoyed the caterpillar sculpture outside the atrium.

After the Butterfly House, we stopped by the Container Store…at least DDIL and I did. DD and the guys went to Circuit City. I had never been to the Container Store before. What fun! Then we made the required trip to the book store. Can’t go to the “city” without a stop at a bookstore. A fun day.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. Enjoy! ~~Rhonda