Rathcormac N.S.

The life story of a butterfly.

The children in Senior Infants and Fourth class have enjoyed the last few weeks.They were lucky enough to receive a fantastic gift from Mrs.Bacon-a butterfly hatching habitat .Shortly after Easter each class received three jars each containing five caterpillars and food for the caterpillars.The jars were placed on a high shelf and it was important to maintain a constant temperature.

Here you can see the caterpillars are moving up to the top of the jar.They are ready to become chrysalides.They appear to be resting but this is a time of rapid change as within the chrysalis the old caterpillar body parts are undergoing a remarkable transformation.

The chrysalides were then placed in the Hatching habitat.Once inside they attached themselves to the paper disc under the lid of the cup.They stayed in this position for about 10 days. Not alone were in the children in 4th and senior infants watching and waiting there were plenty of visitors from all the other rooms watching too!

There was great excitement in the classes when the butterflies started to emerge.A couple of hours after emergance the wings are full sized and hardened.The butterflies were ready to fly.The children all supplied delicious butterfly food -fresh flowers from their gardens!The butterflies also ate flowers covered with a sugar and water mixture.They even had a few old bananas.

All too soon it was time to release the beautiful painted butterflies. They headed straight for the trees.

It was fantastic to observe this miracle of nature. Let's hope our butterflies are enjoying beautiful Drumcliff!!