For the boys' projects, I decided to emulate a release box we used at our wedding, just a little larger with room for live plant cuttings. I started with a shoebox, a roll of tulle (on sale for $2 at Hobby Lobby) and a hot glue gun.
I cut out rectangular 'viewing windows' on the long sides and the top of the shoe box. I also figured this would help air circulate through the habitat so the caterpillars wouldn't suffocate. The windows could not be wider than the width of the roll of tulle so I made sure not to cut the rectangles too large by placing the roll on top of the side and top of the box first, then just 'eyeballed' where to cut and used the combination of a cheap steak knife and my kitchen scissors. My husband helped me with the second one and he prefers more accuracy so I believe he used a pencil to trace his outline.
Next, I cut out pieces of tulle to fit the inside of the box on the underside of the rectangular cut outs. I trimmed any overlap but there needs to be at least a one inch or so overlap on all the edges to get the hot glue to adhere the tulle to the cardboard. This step was tricky and we tried different ways with the glue gun, from putting the glue on the cardboard first, to putting it on the tulle then carefully laying it on top. The problem is the glue dries fast and when the tulle is placed down it can bunch up and be hard to work with. What finally worked best for me in the end was to lay the tulle over the opening as flat as I could, then use the glue gun on top of the edge of the tulle and pressing down with the glue gun onto the tulle and running the length of the cutout so that the glue presses flat and it instantly sticks to the cardboard. The tulle easily pinches and bunches..so it just requires a little patience. Also, I knew I was creating a caterpillar box for my little boys, not an art masterpiece.
After the shoebox was finished, I put a little camo tape on one end..I have boys, after all, so I wanted to make a butterfly habitat seem more 'boyish' to them..plus they just love the camo duct tape. I gathered together some plastic kitchen containers. I have been saving lots of these lately as I find they are very good for starting seeds on the porch before transplanting to the garden. I used a half gallon milk jug, plastic soup container and plastic fig container with the first two containers tops sawed off. You can use anything as long as it is not too deep nor too shallow to hold some potting mix and the plant cuttings. I lined the bottom of the box with wax paper folded into a rectangle and doubled up..I find that it helps a little if you spill water and is easier to clean up caterpillar poop by replacing the wax paper.
Next, I make my fresh clipping 'potting mix'. I must've read about this mix in a gardening book or blog somewhere but I love it! I bought the moss and vermiculite at Lowe's in the garden center. I guess I use about half and half..I have never really been one for measuring..but I fill the containers about half and half..then add water until it turns soupy and let it sit for a few minutes. I just use a stick from the yard or whatever is lying around to stir the mix up a bit. If it is too soupy and watery..just add a dash of vermiculite..a few sprinkles at a time and watch it absorb the water up until it is the right texture of a strange looking soil. I used this mix with some coleus clippings and root hormone to successfully create some new coleus plants.
Then, I went to the garden and clipped some of the caterpillar's host plants. I have read over and over again to clip plants at an angle..so I always do that. For this box, I collected Gulf Fritillary caterpillars and their host plant is Passionflower vine - this is what I am cutting in the picture. I have found in the past that some caterpillars will starve themselves to death if you just put them in a box with cut leaves of their host plant. I started out using live plants when I ordered some online, then went to using clippings in water, but now I use my clippings in the potting mix. I find that the plants stay green for a very long time..and sometimes they will even sprout roots at the bottom..which means you can then plant them to grow a new plant. This is helpful when buying lots of plants just for caterpillars to eat them can get expensive!
After you have a few clippings, take them back to your potting mix to 'install them'. They take some fiddling around with to get them to sit in there right sometimes. Since I was putting these in a shoebox I had to get the bottom of the clipping far down into the mix enough that I could curl up the top of the plant so it didn't constantly brush the top of the lid if the kids wanted to remove the lid. I also used my fingers to mound up a little bit of the mix at the base of the root I stuck in to stabilize it a little more. If you play with it long enough, you will get them arranged the way you want them, just make sure they are secure enough so if they are bumped or something they won't pull up out of the mix making a mess everywhere.
Arrange the plants inside your box.
Gently collect the caterpillars and place them in their new 'home'.
Ready to go to school! The plants should be checked daily and when they have all been eaten, need to be pulled out and replaced with fresh plants. The vermiculite mix stays moist for a long time but if it starts to get dry, add a little water so it stays moist to the touch.
I am no expert at all but I have learned a few things about raising caterpillars so far:
Caterpillars go through several stages, called instars, where they shed their old skin. If the caterpillar is very still and not moving, don't touch it or mess with it, as it may be shedding its skin. If the skin shedding process is disrupted, they can get stuck and die.
Caterpillars can get stressed out..don't handle them more than is needed.
When clipping live plants..ants and little spiders can get into the habitats on the plants. If I see any other bug in the habitat I immediately squash (or remove) it. Caterpillars have many enemies.
Caterpillars sometimes die. I have cared for several generations of several different species now, and as careful as I try to be, sometimes some of them start to shrivel a little or don't look good..then they just die, and I don't know why. I have read somewhere that when a butterfly lays eggs in the wild, typically only one of 100 will survive to full maturity.
Don't mess with the cocoons, nor the caterpillars when they get into 'J' formation. You can tell they are about to pupate when they attach themselves to the top of the habitat or a piece of plant in a 'J'. I never touch them or bother them during this stage although sometimes I am lucky enough to sit nearby and watch the cocoon form.
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