Easter Monday: Painted Lady Butterfly

This is the second year that my two children and I have released painted lady butterflies. The joy and excitement of finally seeing one of your tiny baby caterpillars emerge as a beautiful butterfly is something to remember forever. The magic and wonder I experience every time I see a butterfly has thankfully never waned. I remember being a small girl trying to catch butterflies on sunny days, and now I'm a 40-something mom who still slows down to stare at a beautiful winged wonder. 

Each butterfly’s hatch day is full of excitement: First, we gather Dandelion flowers and oranges from our garden, mash bananas and make sugar nectar (1 part sugar: 9 parts water). Lastly, we release them on day 2 of the last butterfly’s hatch day. 

Video: How to feed painted lady butterflies.

This year, our caterpillars seemed to developed faster than last year, perhaps due to the warmer weather and early spring where I am.

This Easter, God did a big miracle for our 6 butterflies: On Good Friday I prayed to St. Antony of Padua, follower of Jesus Christ and “finder of lost things.” Our butterflies were in peril, it was day 3 of their chrysalis and the butterfly habitat was nowhere to be found! My 3-year-old had climbed and taken the habitat to play with multiple times while the butterflies were in their caterpillar stage. I finally hid it so well that even I couldn’t find it! We had been searching high and low on Friday to no avail.

On Easter morning, it was with a heavy heart that I made the decision to move our six Painted Lady Butterfly chrysalises to our greenhouse so they could emerge in a warm protected environment. The caterpillars trembled vigorously upon being moved. I worried they would fall off and be hurt. I sadly hung them in my greenhouse and prayed for the best. Shortly after, I found the habitat in my dresser drawer. We were heading to church so there was no time to move them now. Our caterpillars would have to wait until after mass to be moved into their safer habitat. 

On the way home from church, my 5yo reminded me to move the chrysalises! My heart dropped after I counted only 5 chrysalises in the butterfly habitat. I found the fallen chrysalis in the greenhouse and carefully picked it up in my palm. I was terrified and wouldn’t dare touch a chrysalis under normal circumstances. The poor thing was trembling the whole time, it was kind of awesome, and a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me to be so close to and feel this creature’s life. Finally, I carefully placed the chrysalis at the base of the habitat and prayed for the best. I really felt no hope for it, I was sad my mistake cost it its life. 

I checked on the fallen chrysalis on Easter Monday, only to be greeted by our first beautiful Painted Lady butterfly. My joy only multiplied when I discovered our first butterfly had emerged from the fallen chrysalis! It was such a beautiful, big, healthy, and perfect Painted Lady butterfly. Thanks be to God! The little caterpillar I almost gave up on and didn't believe had a chance at life, became a beautiful and strong butterfly.

My 5yo said the truth: We thought we knew what was going to happen to that butterfly but we had no idea. God knew more than us from the very beginning. He knew that little caterpillar was going to be just fine and become an amazing butterfly on Easter Monday.

Isaiah 55:9 comes to mind:

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than your thoughts.