One of our very best family friends are the Hollands, John and Joan. Dr. John Holland delivered all our children, has taken professional photos of them for our Christmas cards and has impacted our lives more than he can imagine. His wife Joan is equally as amazing in every way. They are such sweet people with huge hearts. Dr. Holland has many hobbies other than his full-time gig as an OBGYN, one of which mentioned was photography... another being biking... another being jujitsu (dynamite comes in small packages;)) and another being growing monarch butterflies! He called me one day to ask if Joan could bring two caterpillar/butterflies to me to let the kids watch them hatch which was a very short window. Well, YES!!! In comes the chrysalises and they were gorgeous!!! He also brought two kids reference books for us to read to see how the stages work. And what do you know... it was Ceci's first 2nd grade "show and tell" the next day!! She brought them to school and they didn't hatch all morning, all day... then in afternoon carline... here they go!! Apparently the kids all went nutso and it was exciting. However, after that, the next newsletter asked that any "show and tell" items not be alive. LOL. At least she got that cool experience in!!;) Below is a copy and paste job on that stage of the butterfly, so the kids can scan this one day... Thanks, Dr. H!!!
The pupa stage is one of the coolest stages of a butterfly’s life. As soon as a caterpillar is done growing and they have reached their full length/weight, they form themselves into a pupa, also known as a chrysalis. From the outside of the pupa, it looks as if the caterpillar may just be resting, but the inside is where all of the action is. Inside of the pupa, the caterpillar is rapidly changing. Now, as most people know, caterpillars are short, stubby and have no wings at all. Within the chrysalis the old body parts of the caterpillar are undergoing a remarkable transformation, called ‘metamorphosis,’ to become the beautiful parts that make up the butterfly that will emerge. Tissue, limbs and organs of a caterpillar have all been changed by the time the pupa is finished, and is now ready for the final stage of a butterfly’s life cycle.
Finally, when the caterpillar has done all of its forming and changing inside the pupa, if you are lucky, you will get to see an adult butterfly emerge. When the butterfly first emerges from the chrysalis, both of the wings are going to be soft and folded against its body. This is because the butterfly had to fit all its new parts inside of the pupa. As soon as the butterfly has rested after coming out of the chrysalis, it will pump blood into the wings in order to get them working and flapping – then they get to fly. Usually within a three or four-hour period, the butterfly will master flying and will search for a mate in order to reproduce.
When in the fourth and final stage of their lives, adult butterflies are constantly on the look out to reproduce and when a female lays their eggs on some leaves, the butterfly life cycle will start all over.
