Jackie H Posted May 16, 2005 Posted May 16, 2005 Had the most wonderful day in nursery today, we are now the proud parents of triplet butterflies. It has been four and a half weeks since our caterpillars arrived through the post, they grew and grew for two weeks and then climbed to the top of the pot and formed into cocoons, The children have watched and waited for a further two weeks until today great excitement. This has been the best £17.00 I have spent such good value for money and such a lot of learning going on not just in nursery but children from all the other year groups keep popping in to see if anything has happened. Two more to hatch hope they wait till tomorrow when we can watch again.
Steve Posted May 16, 2005 Posted May 16, 2005 Congratulations, Jackie! What did you feed them on? Any photo's you can post?
Susan Posted May 16, 2005 Posted May 16, 2005 How exciting! Congratulations. Do you have to let them go now? Its a bit cold in the garden!!
Verona Posted May 16, 2005 Posted May 16, 2005 We have got 5 caterpillars, getting fatter and fatter. Last year the children saw 2 of them hatch, the other 3 hatched after we had all gone home. We break up for half term on Thursay 26 May and return on Monday 6 June and we hope they will hang on that long. I buy them from Insect Lore and have been buying them every year for years, the children are enthralled, as are the staff and parents. Steve, there is a special food stuff provided at the bottom of the pot for the caterpillars. We fed the butterflies on sugared water and put foliage, twigs and small flowers in the butterfly house . Sue J
Jackie A. Posted May 16, 2005 Posted May 16, 2005 And we arrived this morning to find that six of our ducklings had hatched and the seventh one tapped his way out of his shell during the morning. We've been caring for the eggs in an incubator. Will try and post a photo tomorrow. They are sooooo cute!
Guest Posted May 16, 2005 Posted May 16, 2005 We have our caterpillars ordered for after half term-I am really looking forward to watching them grow!! Even more so after your posts Jackie and Sue. Can't wait! Linda
Guest Posted May 16, 2005 Posted May 16, 2005 We too have caterpillars from insect lore, just to say, don't be tempted to buy the bumper pack of thirty( I get two lots of five- one set per group.) With the big set you have to put their food into small pots and transfer a single caterpillar - it takes ages, fine for older children who can do it themselves.
Jackie H Posted May 17, 2005 Author Posted May 17, 2005 Sue, how long did you observe the butterflies for last time, we are wondering if its a bit too cold to let them go yet. We did have hail for half an hour last night. One of our children brought a butterfly bush to plant in the nursery garden today so that we can keep them for ever and ever .
Verona Posted May 17, 2005 Posted May 17, 2005 Jackie, we kept the butterflies in their house for about 5 days. I wanted to make sure all the children got a chance to see them before we released them. It was after half term last year when we released them - it didn't seem too cold when we let them go - but as you say the weather is a bit colder at the moment. Sue J
Guest LucyQ Posted May 17, 2005 Posted May 17, 2005 We're waiting for our butterflies to emerge - very exciting. I just hope they arrive before half term!!
hali Posted May 17, 2005 Posted May 17, 2005 Excellent news we have some arriving after half term also...
Guest alisonjayne Posted May 17, 2005 Posted May 17, 2005 just caught up with this thread. We have five cocoons waiting to hatch, I hope they all arrive before half term. I agree this has really been money well spent, the children love checking each day and we were all amazed at how quickly those tiny caterpillars grew.
Guest Posted May 17, 2005 Posted May 17, 2005 I have been inspired by all your lovely comments, my order has now been emailed. Peggy
Guest Posted May 17, 2005 Posted May 17, 2005 Just a snippet of information for your FAQ list. A few years ago one of my children asked what happens inside the chrysalis. as I couldn't find out from the usual sources I phoned Insect Lore, they phoned me back within the day - they turn into a thick liquid and re-solidify, how SiFi is that.
Guest Posted May 19, 2005 Posted May 19, 2005 We are waiting for our 5 to hatch too! Again praying they arrive before half term otherwise Ill cry!!! It has been so good for the children to see!
Jackie H Posted May 19, 2005 Author Posted May 19, 2005 We let our butterflies go yesterday after all the children that wanted to have a little hold, they were all placed onto the budlea plant. This evening at the end of nursery I brought them all back in and put them back into the butterfly net they hadnt moved !! 24 hrs They were very hungry and had a long drink, the children will get such a shock in the morning when they see them back in nursery. It rained all morning and we were out swimming this afternoon so the children didnt see them in the garden. !!!!!!!!. Will try again tommorow. Have other peoples flown straight away ?
Guest Posted May 20, 2005 Posted May 20, 2005 Hi Jackie, we let ours go last Friday and they all flew off very quickly - but it was quite warm!! We are now rearing some puss moth caterpillars, courtesy of BP!!
Guest Posted June 25, 2005 Posted June 25, 2005 Our caterpillars arrived on Wednesday-they were so tiny! Today they have more than doubled in size, it's amazing to watch. This is the first time we have done this so we are very excited-the staff more so probably than the children! I am going to take some mealworms in next week. We got some to put on the bird feeder in our garden and they turn into beetles apparently-should be interesting! Linda
JacquieL Posted June 25, 2005 Posted June 25, 2005 How do you set about keeping ducklings? What happens to them after they've hatched i have always wanted to have a go at this.
hali Posted June 25, 2005 Posted June 25, 2005 ive just let our butterflies go today, fantastic to watch, will be doing again next year.
mundia Posted June 25, 2005 Posted June 25, 2005 we too have several already released and Im sure there will be more by Monday. The children have been so quiet! Linda, it might be worth checking on the variety of mealworm you have as some varieties of the adult beetles are pests in this country. They are usually only bred for feeding reptiles and amphibians in captivity. And of course your birds, where the majoority of them would be eaten rather than survive to adult hood. does that make sense?
Susan Posted June 25, 2005 Posted June 25, 2005 Nothing to do with caterpillars or butterflies, but do you know anything about Stag Beetles, Mundia? Its been a talking point in the staff room since a child brought one in for "show and tell", the teacher wasnt much impressed!!
mundia Posted June 25, 2005 Posted June 25, 2005 are stag beetelws the ones that take years to develop into adults and then fight each other (hence the name)? Otherwise no I dont really know anythings about them, I dont think we get them round these parts!
Guest Posted June 25, 2005 Posted June 25, 2005 Stag beetle larvae take 3 to 5 years to mature, feeding on decaying underground wood. They are becoming increasingly rare and are the subject of a conservation project by the People's Trust for Endangered Species through their "Bury Buckets for Beetles" project. For details go to www.ptes.org
Guest Posted June 26, 2005 Posted June 26, 2005 Found a dead stag beetle in my garden last week - has Peggy been visiting!! - they must be around here somewhere. I occasionally see them, not often though. The inside of its body was completely cleaned out - something had obviously had a good lunch..... If you haven't seen an earlier post I am now the proud mother of 6 eggs which hopefully will hatch into 6 beautiful land snails - they are apparently dead easy to keep - take little or no looking after and and I have on good authority that the fascinating thing is that their pooh is the same colour as what they eat - red peppers, pale green lettuce, purple cabbage. Do you think food dye might harm them!!!!!! Lots of learning there. And sometimes when they mate their shells crack but they repair themselves. Apparently the more you handle them the friendlier they are. The girl that gave them to me had her "charlie" for six years - it was huge and and her Dad has now varnished it's shell (it was dead) to remember him by. Seems as though she won't be able to forget him as his offspring are prolific breeders and half of nurseries in Liverpool now have offspring. Just waiting to see what happens - bit like having a baby - don't want to go out and buy a container too soon just in case something happens. I will keep you posted. Nikki
Guest Posted June 26, 2005 Posted June 26, 2005 Honest Nichola, It wasn't me, Before retiring my parents were wardens of Youth Hostels, so, as a child I lived in very large old houses. In one Hostel, my bedroom was in the basement, next door to a large boiler room. A family of stag beetles resided in this warm room. During the night, if I needed the loo, I had to carefully navigate the corridor to the loo so as not to tread, bare foot, on these magnificent creatures with their huge pincers ( or are the called antlers ). I do hope that all efforts will ensure that the stag beetle does not become extinct. Peggy
Guest Posted June 26, 2005 Posted June 26, 2005 Just wanted to share these pics with you all, the facial expressions say's it all. Peggy
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