| Authors Judy Burris and Wayne Richards, a sister-brother team, tell how they created the ultimate butterfly habitats in their own backyards. With cameras in hand, they set out on a mission to record the lives of all the butterflies that flocked to their gardens. Readers learn how they can create their own butterfly havens with specific plants suggested for each species of native butterfly, most of which are found across North America. |
| Contents Page |
| Back Cover |
| Front Cover |
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| The Life Cycles of Butterflies For every person who has ever watched and marveled at the magic as a butterfly emerges from a chrysalis, this book is a treasure chest of amazing butterfly transformations. Readers are invited to explore and experience the life cycle stages of many common backyard butterflies in this unique collection of stunning full-color, up-close photography all taken in a live garden setting. Photos by Judy Burris and Wayne & Christina Richards. Each beautiful butterfly is photographed as an egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and winged adult. Other detail shots highlight caterpillar behavior, variations of adult butterfly wing patterns on males and females, and the color differences on the topside and the underside of the wings. |
| Contact our publisher at their website www.storey.com |
| Find our book online... click on a box below |
These caterpillars are named for their long horns which look scary, but are actually flexible and harmless. The caterpillars we raised ate walnut tree leaves for many weeks. They changed colors with every molt (shedding) of their skin. They dig into the dirt to spend the winter as a pupa. They do not spin a silk cocoon. Many other moths use cocoons to hide their pupa. |
| Booklist - "This tidy book offers the single best resource for photos of the complete life cycles of butterflies." Nancy Bent - American Library Association |
| The Washington Post - "The Life Cycles of Butterflies, by Judy Burris and Wayne Richards is a well-written and well-photographed text about how butterflies become colorful, beneficial insects." |
| Discovery Channel Book Club - "...I love this magical book. With sequential images from start to maturity this rich visual guide helps you 'see' one of nature's most wondrous creations -- it's the perfect book to read on the front porch on a summer morning." Carmile Zaino |
| St. Louis Post - "For middle-school children up through adults, The Life Cycles of Butterflies is a serious book that will satisfy the needs of students, gardeners, backyard nature lovers, teachers and home-schoolers." |
| Seattle Post - "Though it's not billed as a children's book, the dazzling, close-up photos and compelling writing make this easily accessible to young readers, who will learn how butterflies lay their highly varied eggs, how a caterpillar grows, and on through the life cycle -- with colorful details about specific species and the plants that attract them." |
| Houston Chronicle - "I think your book is a great help to gardeners at all levels. Everyone wants butterflies, but few want caterpillars, so they kill the latter not knowing they're 'killing' the butterflies. So your book helps them learn which are absolutely hands-off. It's a good book for kids too." Kathy Huber |
| All photographs on this site are copyright protected. For permission to use any photo, please contact Judy Burris at admin@butterflynature.com |
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| Our book has won two national awards ~ Learning Magazine's 2007 Teachers' Choice Award for "Children's Books" & "Product of Excellence for the Family" |
Beware !
| Here is a caterpillar that you should never touch with your bare hands. This is called a Saddleback Caterpillar (Acharia stimulea) and will become a small moth. Instead of having fleshy prolegs covered in tiny hooks like other caterpillars, some caterpillars like this one have suckers that allow them to glide across leaves instead of crawling, so they are called "slug" caterpillars. These creatures also have many stinging hairs that break off when touched, releasing chemical compounds that cause a very painful skin irritation if you are unlucky enough to come into contact with them. People will sometimes brush against these insects as they are eating leaves in bushes and trees. |
| These moths lay their eggs in clusters and the young caterpillars eat together in groups of 30-50. Older caterpillars are solitary. This one is eating pin oak leaves. Unlike the harmless butterfly caterpillars, some moth caterpillars have stinging hairs that may cause serious allergic reactions in sensitive people (especially those who are allergic to bee stings, since some of the compounds in the sting are the same). So don't handle hairy caterpillars if you are not sure if they pose a risk. These guys will hurt! |
| Here's a view of the backside of a saddleback caterpillar. Looks like a face with a furry mustache doesn't it? |
| click on the award to visit Butterfly & Nature Gifts |
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| As we photograph new insect life cycles, we will post them to this site! The life cycle of Citheronia regalis. The caterpillar is called the hickory horned devil and the adult moth is the royal (or regal) walnut moth. Click on images to enlarge them. |
| Reviews of our book |
Caution !
| San Antonio Express News - ". . . a remarkable visual resource and guidebook for butterfly lovers of all ages." Ethel Fried |
| Thank you Katherine Kosiba for encouraging us to create these high-quality educational field guide sheets! Click on them to get a larger view. These double-sided sheets are covered in a heavy, crystal-clear laminate. |
| *Winter* *project* click me |
What's the difference between a butterfly and a moth?
* Usually butterflies are active during the day and moths fly at night, but there are exceptions.
* Butterflies have thread-like antennae with small knobs at the end.
* Moth antennae look like little feathers, especially on the males, like this green luna moth.
* Most butterflies have an exposed chrysalis, while many moths spin silk cocoons to hide theirs.
* Moths often have very fuzzy, thick bodies and hairy legs. Butterflies are more smooth.
* Usually butterflies are active during the day and moths fly at night, but there are exceptions.
* Butterflies have thread-like antennae with small knobs at the end.
* Moth antennae look like little feathers, especially on the males, like this green luna moth.
* Most butterflies have an exposed chrysalis, while many moths spin silk cocoons to hide theirs.
* Moths often have very fuzzy, thick bodies and hairy legs. Butterflies are more smooth.
| Do you have a butterfly question? Would you like to exchange kid-friendly site links? Interested in gardening for butterflies? |
Sneak a peek at our book...
click on the Garden Gate logo,
scroll down to the bottom of
their page, then click on the
right corner of our book to flip
through the pages. Give it a
try! It really looks cool.
click on the Garden Gate logo,
scroll down to the bottom of
their page, then click on the
right corner of our book to flip
through the pages. Give it a
try! It really looks cool.
Click on the logo to visit
the beautiful Butterfly
World site in Florida.
the beautiful Butterfly
World site in Florida.
| Fun photos and facts about butterflies, eggs and caterpillars |
| Pipevine swallowtail butterfly caterpillars eating their eggshells soon after hatching. |
| Pipevine swallowtail butterfly |
Watch carefully as this black swallowtail caterpillar sheds its final skin and reveals the chrysalis that has been developing underneath. Thanks to Justin and Valerie Valleau for this wonderful time-lapse photography! |
Wow!
Luna Moth
| Visit this amazing butterfly conservatory in Ohio |
| Learn how to hand-raise your very own butterflies! See photos and step-by-step instructions.... click here |
| more insect life cycle photos: Click here |
| Stream Cliff Herb Farm Click here |
| more of our photos - assorted butterflies and garden pictures click the butterfly |
| Check out our new butterfly merchandise Click Here |
| A wonderful place to spend an afternoon in Indiana |
| please sign our visitor map |
| National Science Teachers Association - "Having this book in a classroom or personal or school library would generate interest and further awareness of nature". Adah Stock Click Here for the full review on their website |
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| Click the logo to learn everything about ladybugs! |
| Butterflies released into our gardens in 2009 ~ 434 |
| Here's a new butterfly life cycle for 2009 ~ Mourning Cloak Butterfly ~ Click on an image to enlarge. |
| Mourning Cloaks lay their eggs in groups on willow plants. These are on corkscrew willow. |
| The eggs are see-thru right before the caterpillars hatch out. Look how small they are compared to the penny. |
| Once the caterpillars hatch, they leave their empty eggshells and start searching for leaves to eat. |
| Look how tiny those caterpillars are! Don't forget to click on these pictures to see the close-ups. |
| These caterpillars are 2 days old and are eating together in a group. They spin a loose nest of silk to hold onto. |
| Here they are 6 days old. |
| 8 days old |
| 10 days old. Look how funny those feet are. |
| Oooops...apparently they puke green leaf juice on you when you touch them or they feel threatened. |
| On day 13 we gave them some pussy willow leaves, and they ate them really fast! They must taste better than corkscrew willow. Usually a caterpillar will NOT switch food plants so easily. |
| Here's a caterpillar on day 14. They shed their skin several times as they grow bigger. The spikes look scary but are harmless. |
| On day 22 each of our fully-grown caterpillars spun a patch of silk and anchored themselves to it from their rear end. Then they shed their skin to reveal the chrysalis underneath. |
| The chrysalis is a light grey or tan color with short spikes that are tipped in bright red. If you touch the chrysalis it will twitch and jump around. |
| On day 29 our butterflies emerged from their protective chrysalises. They're beautiful! You can attract the butterflies to your garden by setting out a tray of mushy fruit, especially bananas. The females may stay around and lay their eggs if you grow willow plants in your yard. |
| Click the logo to check out this cool website |
| Judy - Wayne Christina |
| Visit this butterfly site NABA St. Louis CLICK HERE |
| Thank you Susan Sherbert for sending us this photo of a mourning cloak laying her eggs on a willow plant. Great job! That's a difficult shot to get. |
Butterfly - side one Butterfly - side two
Moths - side one Moths - side two
| Butterfly sheet $5 plus $2 shipping |
| Moth sheet $5 plus $2 shipping |
Save $2 on shipping - buy two sheets
(mix or match) for a total of $12
(mix or match) for a total of $12
| Moth plus Butterfly |
| 2 Butterfly sheets |
| 2 Moth sheets |