Butterfly Watching As A Family Activity

Butterfly watching can be a great family project that might lead to a lifelong hobby and conservation awareness and service. As more and more natural habitats are being destroyed, families are becoming more aware of the need to protect and conserve butterflies and their natural habitat; thus, creating an increase in the interest of butterfly watching.

You might be surprised to know that, according to scientists' estimates, there are over 20,000 butterfly species in the world. In North America there are over 700 species of butterflies. That is a lot of butterflies available for family butterfly watching!

Butterfly watchers are called lepidopterists. Another name for butterfly watching is 'butterflying'. Besides butterfly watching, they love to study the life cycle of the butterflies, catch and collect them, create and enjoy butterfly gardens, and some work hard to preserve the natural habitat of butterflies. Some families become involved in doing an annual butterfly census to track the butterflies' traveling habits and the numbers in their species.

An easy annual butterfly watching project for families follows the lifecycle of a beautiful monarch butterfly. Butterfly watching home kits are available for purchase but families can build their own with things they can find around the house.

A large, clean, clear jar will make butterfly watching easy to do without causing any disturbance to the delicate creature inside. To ensure a safe environment or home for the butterfly, the metal lid should have several holes in it to provide plenty of air. This can be done by pounding nails into the lid with a hammer.

Once you have the jar ready for your butterfly watching project, all you need is a monarch caterpillar. Again, you can purchase these along with the kits, or separately, but you can find your own caterpillar. The best time to look for a monarch caterpillar is around the end of July and August. The places to look for them are in fields or anywhere that milkweeds are growing.

Monarch butterflies almost always lay their eggs on milkweed leaves. When the egg hatches, the caterpillar emerges, eats the egg and begins eating on the milkweed leaf. Carefully turn over the leaves of a milkweed plant. If you find a caterpillar, pick it up gently and place it in the jar on top of some milkweed leaves. The milkweed leaves will provide food for the caterpillar. The leaves need to be replaced with fresh new ones every day.

Though a caterpillar is in the jar, butterfly watching can begin by observing the caterpillar. Soon the caterpillar changes into a chrysalis by attaching to the lid of the jar and shedding its skin. It starts out soft but soon hardens into a shell. In two weeks the shell becomes clear and you can see inside the chrysalis. The metamorphosis is complete and it is time for the butterfly to emerge and wait for its wings to dry and harden so that it can safely fly away.

If your family is just beginning butterfly watching, start out by going out on bright, warm, sunny days when the butterflies are active. Look for them in backyards, wetlands, meadows, woods, where there is fruit and anywhere you see brightly colored flowers. You are sure to see those delightful "flying flowers" around somewhere during your family's butterfly watching adventures.