Butterfly Time--Update!

Do you remember those little tiny black specks with a white spot that I showed you a week ago?  And I told you they were Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars????

Well, they ate.  And ate.  And ate some more.  It's a good thing my two Rue plants are LARGE plants in my garden, because every day I went out to pick some fresh Rue for these little critters to eat.  And. . . . just look at them now!

Yes, I know it is hard for you to believe me that these are the very same caterpillars.  But trust me--they are.  The little black furry caterpillars eat and eat and eat until they don't fit into their skin any more.  Then they shed their skin, and underneath they look like this!

This is pretty much full size now.  One of the three caterpillars is notably larger than the other two.  I think he ate more!  But even the two "smaller" caterpillars are large enough that they could go into their chrysalis stage any day now.

I "was" going to try and keep them in their large two quart jar for just one more day--as I wanted to take them back to church this week to show the kids who saw the tiny black caterpillars last week.  But last night I saw the warning sign.  Yup.  One of the caterpillars started wandering off of the Rue leaves, and climbing up the side of the jar.  THAT is a definite warning that they are looking for a nice spot to hang their chrysalis.  Eek!  I did NOT want that to happen in the small two quart jar!!!!  Why?  Well, first of all, I didn't have any sticks in there for them to hang their chrysalis on.  But the main reason why is because when they come OUT of the chrysalis they will be butterflies--and will need room to spread out their wings.  The two quart jar is definitely too small for that, and I would have a real hard time getting them out the small opening.

So--time to quickly move those caterpillars out of the smaller home, into a larger one!  I have them in a larger plastic critter container now--just one I picked up at Walmart years ago.  It's nice because when you take the lid off, it is taking the whole entire roof off.  So you do not have the problem of trying to guide a butterfly through a small opening.  It is also much easier to put a couple sticks in it for them to climb on and hang from.  I actually took a picture of their new container to show you on here, but then forgot to get that picture off my camera and onto my computer!  Oh well!  Maybe in the next butterfly update?

Anyway, just wanted to share how our little caterpillars are growing.  Hope you enjoy this close up look at God's beautiful butterflies!