Watch a Caterpillar Hatch from its Egg!

We raised painted ladies butterflies in my 4th grade classroom, and took some photos of the process.  The first photo shows the newly-laid eggs on a hollyhock leaf.  We put a standard size paper clip beside them to show the relative size. 

We watched them for a few days, and as the greenish-blue eggs began to darken, we knew they were ready to hatch.  We placed a portion of one leaf under a microscope, set at 60x, and photographed the process.  The series of photos below shows the tiny caterpillar eating its way out of the egg.  We were very surprised at how long the process took.  We began watching around 8:30 a.m., and there was already a portion of the eggshell eaten away by the caterpillar. There was a lot of visible movement as the caterpillar ate away the shell, and we thought he would soon emerge.  It wasn't until 12:30 or so that it finally came out.  Upon emergence, we measured the caterpillar to be 1mm long.

The video and photos are for non-profit educational use only. You are welcome to use them in classrooms, for homeschool education, or other educational projects.  They are not to be used on commercial websites, or in any commercial manner.

Sign up for our Email Newsletter & Special Offers

  Send This Page To a Friend

Home    Nature Shoppe  Butterfly Garden    Fascinating Facts

   Wedding & Party Favors    Kids Club    E-Mail

 © 1998 - 2009 Milkweed Cafe.com ® / The Favor Garden ®  -  All Rights Reserved