It’s hard to tally up – or at least put a price on – the many joys that you and your children or students can get out of raising live butterflies from a butterfly kit right in the comfort of your home or classroom.
You get a firsthand look at the life cycle of a butterfly, from the caterpillar (butterfly larvae) stage through the adult stage. You get to see butterflies slowly emerge from their chrysalis. You get to marvel at the quick and astounding metamorphosis.
And that feeling never gets old.
You get to learn about the butterflies themselves – what kind of habitat butterflies prefer, what kind of food they eat, how they spend their days. You learn about the different types of butterflies that are out there.
It can get you fantasizing about creating your very own live butterfly garden.
But for me, the real thrill is the moment of butterfly release – when you turn all those butterflies loose on the world and watch them flutter away, free to spend their lives the way they want.
Releasing butterflies always has a moment of bittersweetness to it – and this is doubly so for little kids who might have begun to think of those butterflies as pets. They are so fragile and lovely! Letting them go can feel cruel almost – and you liked the sight of them in your home, that color, that gentle grace.
But releasing live butterflies is actually pretty important. While it’s true that some species (Painted Lady butterflies, for example – the staple of Insect Lore’s butterfly kit) only live for a few weeks and can survive – with food – in a mesh habitat, butterflies are really meant for the wild. They might not seem it, but they are wild animals.
And that’s where the “sweet” part of bittersweet comes into play. It feels good to release butterflies because it’s the right thing to do. Deep down we know that they are meant for wild flowers and sunny gardens and gentle breezes. Yes the environment can be harsh – but butterflies are tougher than they look.
Letting them go is a way of honoring them, of saying thank you to them.
And as an added bonus, we can take some pleasure knowing that they will breed and lay eggs. In fact, we just might be seeing future generations of the very butterflies we raised from larvae next summer!
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