Butterflies...

We took advantage of a tip on our home school e-group to visit a local butterfly naturium where butterfly expert John Powers offers a free tour and talk on Wednesdays and Sundays. The amount of information John knows is tremendous, and even though the talk out lasted the girls attention spans a bit, it was very enjoyable. The girls got a first hand look at some of the different local butterflies and the caterpillars they originate from.

We also learned that butterflies emerge only from a chrysalis, while moths emerge from cocoons, a fact that when we got home we checked in one of our picture books, we found the author had used the wrong wording.

The kids were intrigued by this species (above), where when disturbed, would push horns out of its head in an attempt to scare its attacker.
This butterfly has brilliant blue wings, but its under body decorated with eyes, gives it its camouflage.

These moth caterpillars and cocoons were on display along with a large portion of John's collection . A good way for the girls to see the difference as we have only really seen a chrysalis up close before.

This butterfly (above) must be special when the resident butterfly expert goes running to get his camera. It is the largest swallowtail butterfly in SW Ontario, and is becoming more rare as its habitat is slowly being diminished. They thrive in the hedgerows between farmland which farmers are slowly ripping out in exchange for fencing.

And this is Aunt Pam who spent the day exploring with us. We managed to get a great smile from her, but the girls were so engrossed in the pamphlets and magnifying glasses that were given to them, I couldn't get them to look up.