One of our favorite things to do during the winter months in Hawaii is watch the caterpillars turn into butterflies. It is an AMAZING process and our whole family gets involved! We love to watch them in our yard and we also like to put a few caterpillars in a container and watch the process close up. We have a milkweed tree in our yard and around the end of November the leaves are covered in caterpillars! They are so tiny. About the size of your pinky nail.
They quickly grow bigger just by eating the leaves.
Then, just like that, they stick to the bottom of a leave and make a "J" shape.
The next day the "J" has turned into a chrysalis. Amazing! Can you spot it hanging from the leaf?
After about 10 days, you can start to see through the chrysalis and the butterfly wings are very visible!
The butterfly waits until evening or until no one is around and he comes out. We give the butterfly a few hours so his wings can dry off, and then this is our favorite part... He loves to climb around on us. On our fingers, shirts, hair. Its crazy! Then we let him go free!!
We just love to watch it. I had to get pictures and document this year because this is our last winter in Hawaii. We will miss our little friends!
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