Unavailable until further notice. Five larvae are supplied with housing and all the food they will ever need. The transparent pot allows you to observe the growth of your caterpillars as they munch on the artificial food and you never even have to clean them out! Watch in amazement as the caterpillars climb to the underside of the lid, hang like a letter 'j' and transform into a chrysalis. After a few days (once hardened) the chrysalis can be removed and placed in a net cage for emergence. Butterflies can be fed on cut flowers or cotton pads soaked in honey water before release into the wild. The painted lady breeding kit is the perfect method for busy teachers and you don't even need to take them home! Never leave the pot in direct sunlight.
We must stress that the 'complete breeding kit' is an 'artificial' method of rearing that uses a food paste and does not replicate the natural life-cycle of the painted lady butterfly. Please see our other painted lady listing for natural life-cycle images and information.
Our own preferred method of rearing is to rear larvae on growing thistle or nettle, however we do appreciate that busy educators who have never raised caterpillars before may initially feel a litle daunted and the painted lady breeding kit can serve as a confidence builder and/ or stepping stone to more natural rearing methods.
Whilst some may be tempted to use this purely as a time saver, there is infinitely more educational value in teaching children how to care for larvae on a day to day basis in more natural conditions.
