The Butterfly Lady at YMS!

We were so lucky to have the brilliant Butterfly Lady visit our school on Friday.  She brought in Swan plants, caterpillar eggs, caterpillars and butterflies to observe.  She also brought in some dress-ups for us to try out too.

In class afterwards we made our own butterflies using weaving skills and caterpillars on leaves!

Mrs Hancock shared her notes with us to remember what the Butterfly Lady taught us! WOW!

Butterfly facts:
Adult butterflies live for about 8 weeks
Can lay eggs after 4 days old
Lays about 100 eggs in their life time
Only want about 3-4 eggs on each plant
First meal for a caterpillar is its egg shell
Swan plants are poisonous - we don't eat leaves!
Wash hands after touching leaves
Learn by 'looking' not touching them
They like the new shoots in the middle at the top
Caterpillars are caterpillars for 2 weeks.
They shed their skin 5 times
Caterpillars walk off the plant to shed skin
Cocoon is made from silk that is woven - moths do this
Chrysalis is a hard shell - butterflies do these
Predators for caterpillars - wasps, spiders might eat eggs,
Caterpillar colours are because they are poisonous
They get their poison from the Swan plant leaves
Slow down their eating when it's cold
Butterflies eat nectar from flowers
Need to have flowers and Swan plants in your garden to attract the butterflies
Feet are used to taste
Caterpillar turns into a chrysalis from the inside out
In winter, butterflies last 6-7 months go to trees around Christchurch
Butterflies return to same tree as their ancestors

Differences between male and female:
Females have thicker veins
Males usually a bit bigger than females
Males Black spots on wings