This is a fun science and a great product. We bought this in March from Amazon, and quickly received the caterpillar larvae from Insect Lore after submitting the coupon information and paying the shipping online. The caterpillars hatched about a week after the larvae arrived. A couple weeks after they hatched, they started making their chrysalides. A few weeks after that, they hatched into beautiful painted lady butterflies. The process occurred exactly as the directions and all those science classes you've had over the years said it would. Living it and watching the process in real life is much better than reading about it, both for my wife and I, and for our six year old daughter. We all loved having pet butterflies.
The whole process takes about two months, depending on how long you keep the butterflies in their cage before releasing them. The cage is a cheap Chinese made product that is adequate for the purpose but could probably be done better. We wished that we had a larger environment for the butterflies to fly around in. My wife vetoed my daughter's idea to let them fly around the house. I was in favor of the idea. All 5 of the larvae hatched into caterpillars, and in the long run resulted in 5 butterflies. On "release day" 3 of the 5 butterflies flew away strongly. The other 2 had issues. I think that was my fault and not indicative of an inferior product. (let's just say to be careful during feeding not to drop any large sections of orange onto any of your colorful friends)
A lot of reviews on Amazon complain about the pricing of this product, but I think that it is fairly priced and actually a good deal if you do it through Amazon. Insect Lore is not a fly by night Internet company that is doing this to make a quick buck. They have been developing and selling these sorts of experiences since the late 1960s. Their model of selling the kit, and having their customers mail in for the larva may not seem optimized for the internet age, but considering the "shelf life" issues, and the fact that they started as a mail order operation makes it understandable. They have optimized the process somewhat by allowing the coupon information to be submitted online.
When we decided to do the butterfly experience again, after doing the first batch, I was annoyed when I saw that it costs almost as much to buy replacement larvae from Insect Lore as it does to buy the whole kit from Amazon. That isn't really a complaint about the product that I'm reviewing on this page, but rather shows just how good of a deal it is. We were ready for a new cage anyway after having the butterflies live in it for so long.
Your cost for buying this kit through Amazon is: ~$15 Kit from Amazon + $3 Shipping for Larvae to Insect Lore = ~$18 (~ because Amazon adjusts their price constantly)
Your cost for buying this kit from Insect Lore is: $20 Kit from Insect Lore + $5 Shipping for Kit + $3 Shipping for Larve = $28
Your cost for buying replacement Larvae from Insect Lore $15 + $5 Shipping for Larvae = $20
My bottom line on this is that you should buy this kit and do it with your kids. I don't know off hand what the age recommendations are for this, but I know that my 6 year old loved it. Any way to encourage science and technology for America's youth is a good idea in my book.
Get more detail about Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden.
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