The World Alive Butterfly kit includes: Habitat, water dropper, magnifier, tweezers with padded tips, activity and instruction book plus an order form to buy your live caterpillar eggs.
The caterpillar eats leaves constantly and grows quickly. Each caterpillar grows so much that it sheds skin four times before turning into a pupae. The time between
the sheddings is called an instar. The later instars (when the caterpillars reached a size of approximately 2 cm) are highly photosensitive. At this period the larvae need light for 16 hours a day. If the light period does not reach 16 hours the pupal stage will go into dormancy and continue the development just after a few months. After about three weeks, the caterpillar stops growing at almost 5cm long. Butterfly larvae breath through tiny holes on each side of the first segment in their thorax and the first 8 segments of their abdomen.
Their first 3 pairs of legs are jointed and become legs of the adult butterfly. The back legs are called "prolegs" which means false legs, and these disappear in the chrysalis.
Stage 3: Chrysalis-metamorphosis
The caterpillar finds a safe place to rest. With a silk thread that comes out of a hole just below its mouth (spinneret), the caterpillar
first spins a silk pad around the body. Within the next hours the caterpillar produces more and more silk. After approximately 12 hours the body of the larvae changes into the pupae. Within the pupal stage, the metamorphosis of the butterfly takes place.
Stage 4: The butterfly
When the butterfly first emerges from the chrysalis, its wings are soft and crumpled. The butterfly rests, and then slowly unfolds its wings to dry. After a few hours, the butterfly will be ready to fly. The cabbage white butterfly has a 2-week life span. During that time,
its main goal is to reproduce and lay eggs so the cycle can begin again! The females of the white cabbage butterfly have black points on the top and bottom side of the forewings, males only have these points on the bottom side. The adult butterflies have a proboscis
which may be as long as the half their body length. This proboscis works like a straw. To drink they put the proboscis into water and for feeding they use nectar solution.
The World Alive Butterfly kit includes: Habitat, water dropper, magnifier, tweezers with padded tips, activity and instruction book plus an order form to buy your live caterpillar eggs.
The caterpillar eats leaves constantly and grows quickly. Each caterpillar grows so much that it sheds skin four times before turning into a pupae. The time between
the sheddings is called an instar. The later instars (when the caterpillars reached a size of approximately 2 cm) are highly photosensitive. At this period the larvae need light for 16 hours a day. If the light period does not reach 16 hours the pupal stage will go into dormancy and continue the development just after a few months. After about three weeks, the caterpillar stops growing at almost 5cm long. Butterfly larvae breath through tiny holes on each side of the first segment in their thorax and the first 8 segments of their abdomen.
Their first 3 pairs of legs are jointed and become legs of the adult butterfly. The back legs are called "prolegs" which means false legs, and these disappear in the chrysalis.
Stage 3: Chrysalis-metamorphosis
The caterpillar finds a safe place to rest. With a silk thread that comes out of a hole just below its mouth (spinneret), the caterpillar
first spins a silk pad around the body. Within the next hours the caterpillar produces more and more silk. After approximately 12 hours the body of the larvae changes into the pupae. Within the pupal stage, the metamorphosis of the butterfly takes place.
Stage 4: The butterfly
When the butterfly first emerges from the chrysalis, its wings are soft and crumpled. The butterfly rests, and then slowly unfolds its wings to dry. After a few hours, the butterfly will be ready to fly. The cabbage white butterfly has a 2-week life span. During that time,
its main goal is to reproduce and lay eggs so the cycle can begin again! The females of the white cabbage butterfly have black points on the top and bottom side of the forewings, males only have these points on the bottom side. The adult butterflies have a proboscis
which may be as long as the half their body length. This proboscis works like a straw. To drink they put the proboscis into water and for feeding they use nectar solution.
