Did you know that the butterfly is a symbol of transition? During their four life stages, these amazing insects change from an egg to a caterpillar to a chrysalis and then to an adult butterfly. Ambient temperature, or air temperature, affects the duration of their life cycle.
During the summer months, it usually takes four days for butterfly eggs to hatch. The insects then spend 18 days as ravenous caterpillars, eating as much plant matter as they can before pupating into a chrysalis. A week later, an adult butterfly emerges.
People don’t mature as quickly as butterflies, but we do pass through stages that are marked by transitions. So, when a local elementary school asked me to bring 75 butterflies to a fifth-grade graduation ceremony, I gladly said “yes”. A butterfly release is a great way to mark an occasion like this, and I’ve been raising butterflies since I was in fifth grade myself.
For me, getting ready for the ceremony meant traveling to Palm Beach for my supply of the required butterflies, which I raised, but that was just part of the preparations. Afterwards, the Great Southern White butterflies needed to be kept safely and then released unharmed. The best way to do this is by putting each butterfly inside a special envelope.
These envelopes aren’t like the ones you use to mail bills or letters, however. As you can see from the picture below, they’re folded so that they have an edge. This allows a student to easily open the envelope from the top without hurting the butterfly inside.
Despite their excitement, the students held the envelopes in their hands and waited for a count of 1-2-3. Then everyone opened their envelopes at the same time to “oohs” and “aahs” from friends and family members.
Eventually, some of the butterflies landed on plants in the school’s butterfly garden. How these plants were selected, and why butterflies like plants in the first place, is part of what you’ll learn about in our next article.