Product Description: Witness one of nature's most spectacular transformations up close with this reusable, collapsible habitat. Fine, transparent mesh lets you see butterfly metamorphosis up close. Product includes easy-to-use feeder and complete instructions for habitat. Butterfly larvae with food shipped directly to your home. The habitat collapses for storage when not in use. You can adopt and raise a handful of caterpillars, watch them transform into painted lady butterflies, then lift the garden cover to release your beautiful specimens into the wild. This exciting habitat makes a fabulous introduction to the miracles of nature. The larvae and food available round the year.
Editorial Review: Did you know that painted ladies (the butterflies, that is) taste with their feet and have 10,000 eyes? You and your kids will be fascinated by all you learn about these beautiful creatures with the Butterfly Garden from Insect Lore. The kit comes with a relatively easy-to-assemble observation chamber; supplies for feeding the butterflies (you provide only sugar and water); an informative booklet of clear instructions and butterfly facts; and a certificate for three to five free painted lady caterpillars. The metamorphosis from larva to butterfly takes about three weeks from when you receive the caterpillar larvae (which arrive in a small container with all the nutrients they need). Your children can watch the larvae increase dramatically in size, form chrysalides, and finally emerge into full-fledged painted ladies (it's suggested that they release the butterflies after a few days of observation). This would make a wonderful activity for families with kids of any age, but younger children will need help assembling the observation chamber and reading the instruction booklet. (Note: The manufacturer recommends that butterflies should not be set free in temperatures lower than 55 degrees Fahrenheit.) --Rachel Radway
Grandma of 3 Catapillars took over a month to arrive and that is hard to keep explaining to a four year old everyday. Then when they did finally arrive, they were dead and we had to send them back before they would send us some new ones. Takes too much time for a child to understand. And why would you send catepillars by regular mail in the heat of July?
Excellent Gift! I've given this as a gift many times. It's great! The butterfly habitat is huge and kids love to watch the caterpillars change to their chrysalides and then into butterflies. I also got one for my 80 year old grandmother and she loves watching them change every dady.
It says it comes with a coupon for free larvae, however, you still need to send in $5 for shipping when they order the caterpillars. That was a bit misleading to me and I didn't realize that until after I gave a few of these as gifts.
Fun, But Be Careful! This habitat was a blast! This was ordered by the libraries in my area as part of the Catch the Reading Bug summer reading program. The kids absolutely loved it! We even had a butterfly release party after storytime so the kids could watch them fly away. It was fun to watch how the butterflies were willing to help each other out. One of ours was born with an injured wing(like Nemo and his fin). One of the butterflies helped him learn to fly by gently pushing him in the air until the injured butterfly figured out how to fly. Out of the 10 caterpillars we received, 8 made it. One somehow disappeared and one was killed in the chrysalid stage.
If you have young kids, this kit is fun, but make sure to keep the caterpillars, chrysalis, and butterflies in a safe place. The young kids at our library were a little careless one day while one of our other librarians wasn't watching the desk and they knocked off one of the chrysalids. It was in a crucial stage right before it was to turn into a butterfly(a day or two before), so it wasn't quite ready to come out when it's cocoon was cracked. The one butterfly who had hatched already tried to help it to get out, but it never succeeded. That's why it's important with young children to keep an eye on them when they're watching the butterflies. Older kids are fine alone, though.
Great educational item....BUT...... We ordered this for my daughter's 4th birthday and it was a fantastic gift! The environment is high quality (perhaps a bit small...I'd go for the larger one next time to give the butterflies more space to soar) and easy to clean. All of our butterflies lived and actually laid eggs. We placed a lantana plant inside the cage for them to eat on and lay eggs on. It was a beautiful thing to witness. NOTE: the baby caterpillars that came from the eggs our butterflies laid, if you want to do this all again, DO NOT LIKE TO EAT lantana and they died. I'll be doing thistle, hollyhock or malva next time once they hit the big caterpillar stage. Last night I ordered my new 5 caterpillares, nutrient, manual, and new supplies *for $7*. I ordered this from www.carolina.com which had the least expensive pricing around. INSECT LORE will rape you on this ($15!!!!! for the same thing, actually just the cup, nutrient and caterpillars nothing else) after the first coupon is used (if you do this again). I HIGHLY rec. using carolina.com to order supplies after your first go-round. Insect lore's CEO communicated with me personally and she was rude, unhelpful and uncooperative when I emailed the company in regard to the uncompetitive high pricing for refills (if you will). I was surprised by her curt response and non-helpful attitude. So, in sumnation, go ahead and buy the kit from them but if you decide to do the butterflies again after you release the first ones, buy them from carolina.com! :)
disappointing-had to purchase caterpillars for the initial project. Very disappointing. When my granddaughter received this gift, she found that there were no caterpilars to watch, and infact had to wait to purchase the crystallis before she could do anything! Very disappointing!
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