The butterflies have certainly been a great source of entertainment lately. All ten chrysalids successfully hatched and it has been a joy to watching the butterflies flutter about their pavilion. It is almost the end of their life cycle now and two have just expired (causing grief for my tenderhearted six year-old).
And it would seem that said pavilion is an amorous environment because of all of the hanky panky going on!
WARNING: the following photograph is for mature audiences only ...
Yup, this is what mating butterflies look like. My daughter thought they were "cuddling".
I actually got to see the chase, the wooing, and the winged union of this couple. Mating butterflies stay in this position for up to several hours as the male passes his sperm packet to the female. There were many intimate encounters going on over the course of the last few weeks; and with great excitement, I announce that we now have a "nursery" in the habitat as hundreds of tiny green eggs have been laid. I still have to do some research on what to do with the eggs and what to feed the caterpillars, but for now we are all beaming with pride.
1 comment:
Oh wow... how *exciting* -- you've got a caterpillar nursery. Do keep us posted on the little guys. What a great learning opportunity!
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