Butterfly Eggs

We collect the butterfly eggs and/or the caterpillars and bring them inside to watch each stage of the life cycle: egg, caterpillar, pupa (chrysalis), and then release the beautiful butterfly that emerges from the chrysalis. It is a wonderful transformation that is enchanting to watch.

The egg will hatch in 3-7 days. The caterpillar that hatches from the egg will feed for about 2-3 weeks on the host plant then turn into a chrysalis. Inside the chrysalis the caterpillar will change into a butterfly and in about 1-2 weeks the adult butterfly will emerge from the chrysalis. The butterfly will mate, lay eggs, and the incredible cycle will begin again.

The easiest way to get a butterfly egg is to plant a host plant with the specific purpose of attracting an adult butterfly to lay eggs on the plant.

An example would be to plant Milkweed to attract a Monarch butterfly. Milkweed is the Monarch's host plant and is the only family of plants the Monarch will use to lay butterfly eggs.

Check your milkweed plants often for eggs. If you see a Monarch hanging around the plant be sure to check the bottom side of the leaves after the butterfly is gone.

Butterfly eggs are very small (1-2mm) so you may want to use a magnifying glass. The eggs vary a lot in color, shape and size between butterfly species but in the case of Monarch eggs you are looking for something similar to the introduction picture on this page (except much smaller).

Raising butterflies is a great hobby and your family and friends will love it as well. If you would like to learn more about finding butterfly eggs and raising butterflies indoors then please visit joyfulbutterfly.com. It is a website devoted to raising butterflies indoors.

If you would prefer not to spend time in the yard attracting butterflies you can still experience the thrill of raising, hatching, and releasing butterflies in your house with a hassle-free Live Butterfly Garden kit. The kit makes a great gift - my nieces got a lot of enjoyment from raising the live butterflies.

The picture is my 3 year old daughter with a monarch butterfly that has recently emerged and is getting close to its first flight. She brought it outside to watch it fly away. What fun it is!