Butterfly Rearing | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5
Butterfly Rearing Stage 1 - Finding Eggs By: Tanya Rothe
There are five stages in the rearing process of the life cycle of the butterfly. They are: collecting the caterpillar eggs, transferring the eggs to a safe environment, raising the caterpillars after they are hatched, watching the creation of the Chrysalis or cocoon, and the final project; the adult butterfly. Each stage is so intense that it will keep you captivated right up until the end.
Butterfly Rearing Stage 1 Photos & Pictures - Butterfly Eggs
Photos Coming this spring / summer 2012!
Stage 1 is all about finding eggs or you can buy / trade them as well. You can usually find a nest of caterpillar eggs or even baby caterpillars on low tree branches in nearby woods. Milkweed is a great place to find several kinds of butterfly eggs but milkweed is a big part of the Monarch Butterfly's life cycle, so expect if monarch eggs on the leaves. Once you find the butterfly / caterpillar eggs stage 2 will explain what to do and how to take care of the eggs prior to hatching. A big part of butterfly rearing is to help increase the butterfly population because the life expectancy from egg to mature adult if very low in the wild. Butterfly / Caterpillar eggs are prone to killed by predators, parasites, disease and even weather.
If you are unable to do this, sometimes there are occasional caterpillars crossing roads or you can even order eggs from a number of websites. There is one really helpful website that not only provides the eggs, but they also give you a lot of useful information about rearing butterflies. The website is http://www.freebutterflyeggs.com/
Butterfly Rearing | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5