Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden

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.

Experience nature up close with the Live Butterfly Garden from Insect Lore. This enthralling educational kit gives kids the opportunity to observe butterflies through every stage of their lifecycle. Children ages four and up can observe five real caterpillars eat and grow to form their chrysalis and then emerge as Painted Lady butterflies. Children will love feeding the butterflies in their included observation habitat and then releasing them into the wild.p table cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" border="0" width="270" align="right" trtd table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" trtdimg src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/toys/detail-page/c26-insectlore-call1.jpg" alt="Insect Lore Logo" border="0"/td/tr trtd background="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/toys/detail-page/c26-insectlore-call2.jpg" align="center" table cellpadding="5" border="0" width="255"trtd div align="center"bLive Butterfly GardenbrAt a Glance:/b/divbr bAge:/b 4 years and upp bRequirements:/b Larvae, which are available with the included mail-in coupon ($5 shipping and handling required; ships to all U.S. states except Hawaii). p bWarranty:/b Insect Lore guarantees that at least 3 of the 5 butterfly larvae sent through the mail will metamorphose into adult butterflies. /td/tr/table /td/tr trtdimg src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/toys/detail-page/c26-insectlore-call3.jpg" alt="Insect Lore Callout" border="0"/td/tr /table /td/tr /table table cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" border="0" align="left" trtd align="center" img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/toys/detail-page/c26-B00000ISC5-1-s.jpg" border="0" alt="Live Butterfly Garden"font size="1"brbrbemWatch larvae turn into butterflies! View larger./em/b/font /td/tr trtd align="center" img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/toys/detail-page/c26-B00000ISC5-2-s.jpg" border="0" alt="Live Butterfly Garden - What's in the Box"font size="1"brbrbem12-inch habitat, guide, dropper, and coupon. View larger./em/b/font /td/tr /table bLive Caterpillars Mailed Directly to You/bbr The Butterfly Garden comes with a coupon to send away for five caterpillars. The caterpillars are hatched from eggs in a butterfly nursery and mailed to your home in a special clear container, complete with caterpillar food.p table width="150" align="right" trtd align="center" img src="http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/toys/detail-page/c26-B00000ISC5-3-s.jpg" alt="Live Caterpillars" border="0"font size="1"bembrbrLive caterpillars and foodbrbr/em/b/font /td/tr /table Keeping the caterpillars out of direct sunlight, children can watch them eat, grow, and after seven to ten days, form their chrysalides and begin their transformation into butterflies. The transformation from caterpillar to butterfly normally takes two to three weeks: seven to ten days in caterpillar stage, and seven to ten days in chrysalis stage. Insect Lore guarantees that at least three of the five caterpillars you receive will grow into adult butterflies.p bObserve the Metamorphosis Up Close/bbr The Butterfly Garden comes with a pop-up butterfly observation habitat, which is a cylindrical mesh container measuring 12 inches tall. Once the caterpillars become chrysalides, they can be transferred to the habitat, where they will complete their transformation into adult Painted Lady butterflies. Children will be excited to keep a close eye on the changing chrysalides and watch this seemingly magical metamorphosis.p bYour Very Own Butterflies/bbr Once the butterflies emerge, children can have lots of fun feeding them and watching them eat. The kit comes with a dropper for squeezing sugar water into the habitat for the butterflies to drink. It is recommended that flowers be placed in the habitat for the butterflies to rest on while they enjoy their meals. Kids will delight in observing the butterflies unfurl their proboscises to suck up the sugar water.p If you receive your butterflies during warmer weather, when temperatures are above 55 degrees, you can experience the excitement of releasing the butterflies into the wild. Caterpillars are available for delivery year-round, so if yours arrive in a colder month, you can keep your fully-grown butterflies in the mesh habitat for their lifespan, which is about two to four weeks.p Additional mail-in certificates are available for order, so once you've released your butterflies, you can reuse the Butterfly Garden and experience the magic of metamorphosis again and again.p bWhat's in the Box/bbr Mesh butterfly habitat, feeding dropper, activity guide, complete instructions, and mail-in coupon for five caterpillars, and food.p br clear="all"

Did you know that painted ladies (the butterflies, that is) taste with their feet and have 10,000eyes? 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.) I--Rachel Radway/I