Lemon Emigrant Butterfly

We all really enjoyed having the caterpillars over the past fortnight. My daughter found five in the garden. We put all five in the cage with food and watched. Two died within a few days. Three made it to the top of the cage and all three managed to attach silk and hang upside down. One didn't form a chrysalis and died (still attached) and the last two formed chrysalis. Then of these two, one constantly twitched within the chrysalis until it fell to the cage floor. I didn't think it would make it but it continued to twitch until it hatched out of its chrysalis. Then it crawled to the top of the cage but would not sit still. It continued to fall and move and had a really difficult time getting its wings out straight to dry. The remaining one still attached to the roof of the cage, hatched out and hung upside down to dry its wings. After a few hours drying time, they both started to flutter about, so we decided it was time to release them. When we released them both, the butterfly who had a straight run so far, flew off eagerly. The other one didn't seem as confident and struggled to fly away gracefully.

It was an amazing process to watch. Of the five caterpillars, it was really only one that developed successfully to adulthood. The others all struggled or died along the way. I'd think that the one which twitched constantly may have even been picked off by a bird, had it still been outside developing in the garden. It was definitely a process of survival of the fittest.

 

The Lemon Emigrant Caterpillar

The Lemon Emigrant in chrysalis form

 



 



 The emergent butterfly

 

This is a photo of the butterfly which fell to the ground while still in the chrysalis. Its wings are still crumpled as it has only just emerged. It's making its way to the walls to climb to the roof of the cage.

 

You can see in the two above photos, that the butterfly who emerged from the chrysalis (that stayed attached to the roof) continued to sit on the empty chrysalis while it dried. Where as the one who crawled to the roof continued to move about to dry.

 



Before we released the butterflies, we had a little garden picnic and left the cage nearby. We watched other Lemon Emigrant Butterflies fly about and pointed out about 8 other species too. It was really lovely to see the look on my daughters face, as the strongest one flew away. I'm sure she will always remember raising and releasing the butterflies.

The loveliest thing about the process, is that today while in the yard my children pointed out Lemon Emigrants as they flew by in the garden. My son who can't talk yet has pointed them out numerous times and called for our attention. If anything, raising the caterpillars has helped my children form a powerful connection to these exquisite little butterflies. No longer is it just a pretty butterfly that they occasionally see flit past their day. This butterfly has a name and a whole life process they have watched and witnessed. It's brought them one step closer to nature.