Insect Lore Cup of Caterpillars Basic – 5 Live Painted Lady Caterpillars with Food – Refill Kit for Butterfly Garden Habitat – STEM Science Activity for Kids & Classrooms

This is my third year ordering caterpillars from Insect Lore for my classroom and every time my kids have a blast watching them grow and learning about their life cycle. I’ve never had an issue with shipping and all of my butterflies always are healthy and i’ve never had any die. It is a great educational experience for the price, especially if you’ve already brought the full kit and can just order the caterpillars on their own!

My grandson loved watching how the caterpillars changed and how they turned into a butterfly. They all made it and they all were set free. He sees them outside and watches them. Good teaching moment and fun as well.

Not a great cup of caterpillars. I usually order them from amazon by another brand and all five caterpillars become butterflies. Usually the container has a piece of cloth on the top that the caterpillars can latch on to, the cloth is removeable and easily transferred into the butterfly habitat. With this container there is no cloth, just a sticker on the lid of the container making it difficult for the caterpillars to latch in order to form their chrysalis. 3 of them fell, and I couldn't remove the sticker from the container to get the other two off the cap. I hope that all of the caterpillars make it.

They grow up so fast! Tiny little caterpillars to butterflies - wiggling chrysalids and all! We had fun watching them emerge and eat nectar from different fruits. Made sure to time the release with nice enough weather so they could fly off into the world. It would have been good to have printed instructions in the box rather than going online.

This is the second cup of caterpillars I’ve purchased from this company. The underside of the lid has textured air-permeable cloth they’re supposed to be able cling to and hang from as they change to chrysalids and emerge as butterflies. The first time, they fell from it into their food. I moved them to the bottom of the enclosure and only 3 of the 4 (they shorted me a caterpillar) survived. Currently I have 5 chrysalids on the bottom of the enclosure because all 5 fell from the lid. I’m hoping they all make it - two were lying in the moist food for a few hours because they fell during the night, so I’m not sure how they will do. All five are on the bottom of the enclosure that I lined with paper towels. I’m hoping they’ll all make it. It’s amazing to watch the caterpillars rapidly grow, but it’s stressful when they fall because I’m worried the entire time about their survival. Please improve the lid.

Perfect for our butterfly science unit

I get a new cup every year. My kids have enjoyed this for three years now! Last year I did receive a cracked cup that was devastating to open with my kids as the caterpillars had all died :( They did send a new one. This year we got a cup that had 4 regular sized caterpillars and one teeny one that never developed, sadly. I know this isn't predictable sometimes. It's just sad when that happens. Otherwise, this is a wonderful experience and we absolutely love watching their process and releasing them in our yard ❤️

The Lifecycle of a Butterfly is always a favorite Unit of study in our PreK classroom. Watching the caterpillars change and the butterfly release is always a hit!