Bugs, Bugs and More Bugs!

We had such a wonderful experience raising butterflies and ladybugs last year that we decided to do it again and added praying mantises as well. Here are some pictures from our latest bug raising adventures.

Ladybugs - interesting, but my least favorite to observe

ladybug larva

Hanging before turning into a pupa

Just molted one last time and turning into a pupa

Adult ladybug just emerged and doesn't have spots or reddish color yet

Ladybug we released into the garden

Painted Lady Butterflies - so much fun to watch the metamorphosis. Austin really liked watching the caterpillars and butterflies.

Big caterpillars!

One chrysalis

Transferring the chrysalides into the butterfly habitat

Butterfly seconds after emerging with crumpled wings

This one is about to emerge. You can see the wing pattern through the chrysalis

Praying Mantises - This was pretty uneventful until today, but it was worth the wait. We didn't really know what to expect. Nate and I were lucky enough to catch them just as the first two emerged this morning and watched the whole process. We released them into the garden this evening, but kept 4 to try and raise.

Until next year....