Amazing Butterflies – God’s amazing Creation (posted 9/30/2016)
The beauty of God’s creation never ceases to amaze me. Who but God would take a worm (caterpillar) morph it into something as beautiful as a butterfly? Just as scripture reminds us in Romans 1:20:
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen …
One of my loves in the summer is watching the bees, butterflies, and humming birds in and around our yard. I try to plant flowers to attract and feed them. The Monarch butterfly has been a concern for me and for many over the last few years. This year was especially disappointing in our area. I can count on one hand the number of them I have spotted this year:; fact is, I do not believe I have seen more than two. The milkweed was especially abundant and beautiful this year. The lack of butterflies and eggs has been of concern for many. Because of this you can imagine my delight, when friend; a butterfly enthusiast, presented me with a monarch egg. I was so excited; I had been searching for caterpillars and had not been able to find any. I have always put one in a big jar to watch it as it matures: becoming a beautiful butterfly. My two youngest granddaughters have shared this love with me and I know they will continue to look for them in the future. They hatch from that tiny egg and show as a bitty little black dot. You will know they are there, as you will soon see a hole in the leaf. As the leaf disappears the little caterpillar will grow. They eat very rapidly, be ready to supply leaves; fresh, young, tender Milkweed leaves for the Monarch.
Your Monarch caterpillar will eat and grow for about 14 days. During this time he will shed his skin about 5 times. When they do this they will stop eating and stay quiet, do not disturb them as they are very vulnerable at this time.
The caterpillar will end up attaching itself to a leaf, the top of the jar or a stick. (I put a sturdy flower stem such as from a cone flower in the jar for it to attach to) Be sure to leave him alone at this stage.
As the Chrysalis darkens it becomes transparent. You can see the butterfly through the outer shell. At this point I think it looks like a very expensive fob on a necklace.
Once the Chrysalis is formed it will take approximately ten to fourteen days for the butterfly to emerge from the Chrysalis. The “baby” butterfly must be left alone for a few hours, as it takes some time to strengthen before it can fly and be released.
This is a picture of my Granddaughter taken a few years ago releasing a Monarch. It liked her foot and hung there for quite a while; which of course she didn’t mind. When handling a butterfly, be very careful of its feet. It tastes its food with its feet.
Recently I had the pleasure of visiting the gorgeous Butterfly Garden at Como Zoo in Minneapolis, MN with my daughter and two of my granddaughters. A friend of mine is a zoo keeper there and had set up the gardens and is responsible for organizing and ordering the butterflies from all over the world.
I wish I could describe the wonderfully delightful feeling of walking into that butterfly garden. I love snow globes; this was like walking into a butterfly snow globe.
I wanted to walk around shouting, SEE everyone - do you see there is a God. Below is the beautiful Blue Morpho one of the larger of the butterflies ranging between
5-8 inches across. It comes from the rain forests. The first picture below is the top of the Blue Morpho. When the butterfly closes (the second picture) it is more easily hidden from its predators. God is amazing, he even cares about the butterfly and helps it to protect itself.
Butterfly facts:
Butterflies taste with their feet. They use their feet to find their food source.
They drink through a straw like projection under their chin called a Proboscis.
When their feet determine they have found the right food, the Proboscis unfurls and drinks the juices.
When a new butterfly emerges from the chrysalis the Proboscis is not assembled. It is in two pieces and the butterfly must work to put them together. If it is unable to do that it will not be able to eat and will not live.
The butterfly lives on the juices or nectar but they often need minerals also. The minerals they need are found in mud puddles. Butterflies need to stay warm, ideal temperature is around 85 degrees. If they get to cold, they become immobile.
I hope you have enjoyed my blog about butterflies. Share the information with your children, grandchildren or the child next door. Nature is such an easy way to introduce God to someone or to expand on our amazing God.
The beauty of God’s creation never ceases to amaze me. Who but God would take a worm (caterpillar) morph it into something as beautiful as a butterfly? Just as scripture reminds us in Romans 1:20:
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen …
One of my loves in the summer is watching the bees, butterflies, and humming birds in and around our yard. I try to plant flowers to attract and feed them. The Monarch butterfly has been a concern for me and for many over the last few years. This year was especially disappointing in our area. I can count on one hand the number of them I have spotted this year:; fact is, I do not believe I have seen more than two. The milkweed was especially abundant and beautiful this year. The lack of butterflies and eggs has been of concern for many. Because of this you can imagine my delight, when friend; a butterfly enthusiast, presented me with a monarch egg. I was so excited; I had been searching for caterpillars and had not been able to find any. I have always put one in a big jar to watch it as it matures: becoming a beautiful butterfly. My two youngest granddaughters have shared this love with me and I know they will continue to look for them in the future. They hatch from that tiny egg and show as a bitty little black dot. You will know they are there, as you will soon see a hole in the leaf. As the leaf disappears the little caterpillar will grow. They eat very rapidly, be ready to supply leaves; fresh, young, tender Milkweed leaves for the Monarch.
Your Monarch caterpillar will eat and grow for about 14 days. During this time he will shed his skin about 5 times. When they do this they will stop eating and stay quiet, do not disturb them as they are very vulnerable at this time.
The caterpillar will end up attaching itself to a leaf, the top of the jar or a stick. (I put a sturdy flower stem such as from a cone flower in the jar for it to attach to) Be sure to leave him alone at this stage.
As the Chrysalis darkens it becomes transparent. You can see the butterfly through the outer shell. At this point I think it looks like a very expensive fob on a necklace.
Once the Chrysalis is formed it will take approximately ten to fourteen days for the butterfly to emerge from the Chrysalis. The “baby” butterfly must be left alone for a few hours, as it takes some time to strengthen before it can fly and be released.
This is a picture of my Granddaughter taken a few years ago releasing a Monarch. It liked her foot and hung there for quite a while; which of course she didn’t mind. When handling a butterfly, be very careful of its feet. It tastes its food with its feet.
Recently I had the pleasure of visiting the gorgeous Butterfly Garden at Como Zoo in Minneapolis, MN with my daughter and two of my granddaughters. A friend of mine is a zoo keeper there and had set up the gardens and is responsible for organizing and ordering the butterflies from all over the world.
I wish I could describe the wonderfully delightful feeling of walking into that butterfly garden. I love snow globes; this was like walking into a butterfly snow globe.
I wanted to walk around shouting, SEE everyone - do you see there is a God. Below is the beautiful Blue Morpho one of the larger of the butterflies ranging between
5-8 inches across. It comes from the rain forests. The first picture below is the top of the Blue Morpho. When the butterfly closes (the second picture) it is more easily hidden from its predators. God is amazing, he even cares about the butterfly and helps it to protect itself.
Butterfly facts:
Butterflies taste with their feet. They use their feet to find their food source.
They drink through a straw like projection under their chin called a Proboscis.
When their feet determine they have found the right food, the Proboscis unfurls and drinks the juices.
When a new butterfly emerges from the chrysalis the Proboscis is not assembled. It is in two pieces and the butterfly must work to put them together. If it is unable to do that it will not be able to eat and will not live.
The butterfly lives on the juices or nectar but they often need minerals also. The minerals they need are found in mud puddles. Butterflies need to stay warm, ideal temperature is around 85 degrees. If they get to cold, they become immobile.
I hope you have enjoyed my blog about butterflies. Share the information with your children, grandchildren or the child next door. Nature is such an easy way to introduce God to someone or to expand on our amazing God.