| The Life Cycles of Butterflies by Judy Burris and Wayne Richards For every person who has ever watched and marveled at the miracle 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 butterfly is photographed as an egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and winged adult. Our book makes a great gift and is a wonderful teaching tool for students, teachers and parents. |
| All photographs on this site are copyright protected. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Buy 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 |
 |
| Our book has won two national awards ~ Learning Magazine's 2007 Teachers' Choice Award for "Children's Books" & "Product of Excellence for the Family" |
| Contact our publisher at their website www.storey.com |
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 |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 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. |
| A few 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! |
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 |
| A wonderful place to spend an afternoon in Indiana |
| 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 the logo to learn everything about ladybugs! |
| Welcome to our website! We are the authors of "The Life Cycles of Butterflies". We hope you find our site to be fun and educational. Please feel free to contact us with any questions that you may have. |
| ~ 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 - front Butterfly - back
Moth - front Moth - back
| 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 |
| Moth plus Butterfly |
| 2 Butterfly sheets |
| 2 Moth sheets |
| Feb. 14, 2010 It's a very cold Valentines Day here in Kentucky. We are 10 degrees with about a foot of snow on the ground and more coming tonight. We received a heart-warming email from Carla McDonald in Bitterroot Valley, Montana. She was surprised to find a small butterfly perched on her kitchen counter in the middle of winter! No idea how it might have got there. Our guess is that the chrysalis was inside the house somewhere and was fooled by the warmth of the house into thinking spring time was already here. Maybe it was hanging on a plant that had been brought inside or something like that. The little butterfly is happy to sit on Carla's finger and sip homemade sugar water. What a nice surprise on a dreary winter day. |
| Back Cover |
| Front Cover |
| Contents Page |
Our photo of the month comma butterfly on fuchsia flower |
