Butterfly Gardening

Our largest egg cycle yet....

Rescuing caterpillars....

Chrysalis stage.....

Butterfly stage....

Butterflies ready for flight!

If you see a butterfly fluttering around Kailua...

Chances are it was a butterfly raised by a "butterfly" at Huakailani...

The Huakailani School for Girls "Butterflies" (as the girls are called because the school mascot is a butterfly) released at least 30 butterflies on February 27! The school has been part of the Butterfly Restoration Project, which works to increase the number of Monarch butterflies on our island. The Monarch population on the island has decreased due to over use of pesticides.

All of the butterflies raised in the school are caterpillars that the students, ages 5- 12, have personally rescued from the school's urban crown flower garden. This school year, the students have raised and released over 100 butterflies to date. The project has been a perfect fusion of science and environmental stewardship.

When you see a Monarch fluttering around, know that the planet is in good hands with the Huakailani Keiki, who are learning from a very young age the importance of taking care of the environment.

Milk Weed & Crown Flowers Before & After

BEFORE

AFTER

Here are the Crown Flowers....

BEFORE

AFTER

Chrysalis Formation and Releasing Butterflies

We caught a caterpillar changing from caterpillar to chrysalis. Magical!

Ready, Set , Release!

Eggs Galore!

Our butterfly garden has been graced with almost 50 eggs! Of course the girls have rescued every single one!

More butterflies from the garden!

We rescued about 10 eggs from the garden and now the butterflies are beginning to emerge.

This butterfly was found at a student's house. She brought it to school to protect it from being eaten. The butterfly's right wings were deformed and caused him to be unbalanced and unable to walk too well or fly. The right front wing was especially deformed (see above).

Look what happened after a wing transplant.

We used a wing we had saved from a butterfly that had died. Aunty Springs told us about butterfly wing transplants and Mrs. B decided to give it a try.

Operation Butterfly was a success!

He is now able to walk around and flutter some.

We decided to leave the back wing as is so we can see how he does with the one front transplanted wing. So far he is doing very well and has so much more freedom. He cannot fly but he can move about in the butterfly cage and walk over to the feeding area to sip nectar.