Have you ever hatched moths or butterflies?

I did it as a kid but it was quite by accident. I brought a cocoon inside and set it on my dresser. One afternoon I found it broken up and a huge moth hanging under my doorframe.

Yes, butterflies as a kid. It was a lot of fun to watch and feed them. Five out of five hatched. They would land on my fingers because they were so used to human hands. In the end, there was a very sad incident involving our cat breaking their enclosure. I’m still hoping they got out through the cracked window.

I never tried it; but a good friend did about 60 years ago. She found a cocoon hanging on a limb. She broke off the limb, brought it inside & placed the broken end in some damp moss to slow down the dying process of the limb. We were sitting in her bedroom when the butterfly emerged from its cocoon. I guess it thought we were its mother because it followed us everywhere we went even flying up to snuggle our cheeks. When we entered the room, it flew up on our shoulders. Whoever walked in first got to be the mother for that visit. This went on for about 3 months when it accidentally flew out the door one day. It circled the yard for a day or 2 & then we never saw it again. I guess it was born to be wild!!!

We didn’t get any good pictures because back then not everybody had a camera handy because the developing fees were outrageous at the time & you had to wait over a week to see what you had captured. I bet that a decent photographer could get some really great pictures!!!

No. Tons of houseflies, though.

@ARE_you_kidding_me -What kind of moth was it?

@longgone -What kind of butterflies?don’t say dead ones.lol

@LadyMarissa -That is interesting. I have access to the tree leaves luna caterpillers feed on, so I might be able to do this
@ragingloli -Excellent work!

Yes! I did Admiral Butterflies in a 10 gallon fish tank. $5? The kids loved it!
I bought a kit at a fund raiser for Monroe County Cooperative Extension.

I have done it with monarch butterflies. Take a caterpillar from a milk weed plant, put it in a jar with fresh milkweed leaves and watch the magic. One day the chrysalis will turn dark and multicolored and the butterfly will emerge that day.

The closest I came was kidnapping a monarch caterpillar as it was just starting to spin his cocoon. I put him in a jar with some grass and a twig and my oldest, who was just 2 or 3, and I watched him spin his whole cocoon. She actually did hatch and we released a Monarch butterfly!
I have pictures. Newly minted too.

@lucillelucillelucille Not a clue.

My next-door neighbor raises butterflies. When he sets them free they fly out over the water and it’s a lovely sight.

Butterflies, yes. Tried once with (presumably) a moth, but it didn’t hatch. :/

@lucillelucillelucille The small tortoiseshell.

@longgone -That’s beautiful!