About two months ago, I tried raising caterpillars. (Note: It was my first time trying to do so. A lot of people did it as a project in elementary school, but I never did). It actually came up unexpectedly. My friend wanted to catch caterpillars, so I thought it'd be cool that I go with my camera so that I can get some shots of butterflies and/or caterpillars. We went to our old high school where there was a crown flower plant and caught some caterpillars and I was able to snap a few decent shots of butterflies. In the end, my friend didn't want to keep the caterpillars, so I kept them.
There were about five of them and the first few days went fine. I checked back a few days later and unfortunately they all died. I did a some research online and little did I know that the caterpillars needed "fresh leaves". I guess few day old leaves weren't their cup of tea.
So, now my friend who gave me the caterpillars was now interested in trying to raise some herself and went to catch some caterpillars. She caught some extra and gave me four of them. These ones were pretty huge already. So.... attempt number two.
Attempt #2: My chubby caterpillars
This time I made a conscious effort to keep the leaves "fresh" and going to the high school to pick up new ones every few days (even when it was raining). I also had made them a home via a Starbucks cup in which i made holes and put chopsticks in for them to crawl on. The work paid off. After about five days or so, I saw the first cocoon. Then, the next. I was lucky enough to see one of them make their cocoon. It went to the top of the cover and hung out their for a good 1/2 day or so, but the process itself happened in a matter of minutes. It was a bit weird. The caterpillar wraps itself with green goo it spits out, meanwhile its skin sheds.
Caterpiller upside down ready to turn into a cocoon like the one on the right
Later the cocoon started changing colors about the fourth day or so. It turned to a darker, brownish color, then clear, in which you could see the black and dark orange which were the wings of the butterfly. I wasn't actually there to see the butterfly come out of the cocoon. I thought if it came out when I was at work, then it would have to stay there for a long period of time until I got home. Therefore, I gave it to my friend to look after the cocoons. Ironically, I was told the first one emerged an hour after I gave it to my friend. -_- How convenient, huh? 
My little butterfly!!! (The wings still weren't dry yet in the pic)
My friend gave me one of the last butterflies back not too long after it emerged from its cocoon. The wings were still wet and it couldn't fly. However, I let it go once its wings were dry as I didn't know what the butterfly's diet would be. I had forgotten I still had crown flower leaves in a cup until a few days later in which I was about to throw it out. Then, I noticed the leaf had a little tiny hole in it and after close inspection, noticed it was a tiny caterpillar!!
The teeny caterpillar I almost threw away with the leaf
I started raising this caterpillar as well, but this time it was in an open cup as I was too lazy to make it a cup and it seemed as though it wouldn't run away. It was going pretty well and the caterpillar was growing and I saw it shed its skin.
The caterpillar getting bigger and bigger day by day...
Then one night, I notice the caterpillar was not on its leaf and had actually ran away. Thinking it couldn't have gone far, I look around my desk, but was unable to locate it. The next morning, I find it on one of my gloves I had laying around my desk and put it back on its leaf. I knew I had to find it a new home so it wouldn't escape again. However, it made another escape before I got to making it a new home. This time I couldn't find it the next day. I thought it surely would've died by now without food. But, a day later, I find it on crawling on the floor!!
However, the caterpillar didn't last. Not sure if it was due to the lack of food when it escaped, but it died the next day even though it had its food source back.
I did prove myself not to be a caterpillar killer after all, and still raised four caterpillars into butterflies (though some died in the process).
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