Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Butterfly Essentials
34
items These are all the must-haves for raising butterflies.
Sections
2
Butterfly Supplies
Butterfly Lesson Teaching Tools
Butterfly Supplies
These are my must-haves for raising and rescuing butterflies. I also included some of my favorite teaching tools.
This is my absolute favorite enclosure for housing butterflies and caterpillars with a host or nectar plant inside. Predators cannot get in. The holes are too small even for ants to get in. It also gives room for a bit of flight for housing injured b...
RESTCLOUD 36" Large Monarch Butterfly Habitat
Spray bottles with a fine mist are needed to rinse off the butterfly and your plants.
Spray Bottle
This is an easy starter kit. It even comes with rebate for painted ladies.
Butterfly Kits with Live Caterpillars
This came with a lot of the things that we ended up using for our butterflies amd caterpillars like a small pop-up cage, net and book.
Insect Collector's Backpack Kit
These are all quality cage options.
Butterfly Cages
We experienced NPV while raising gulf fritillaries. It came from passionflower at the nursery. I would never buy live passionflower for my gulfies again after that experience. This powdered artificial diet is a good alternative.
Passion Vine Butterfly (Gulf Fritillary, Julia, Zebra ) Artificial ...
Toothpicks are necessary when you need to helo a butterfly unfurl it's probiscus to feed. It is also the perfect size to poke holes in fruit so butterflies can drink.
Toothpick
Place a layer of these in a very shallow dish with some water so the butterflies can drink while having a safe place to stand.
Aquarium Marbles
This is the perfect depth for making a buterfly watering station. Add glass aquarium stones so they have a spot to stand and drink.
Glass Candle Plate
Sometimes when a butterfly is having trouble feeding, it will use a cotton swab dipped in nectar solution.
Organyc 100% Certified Organic Cotton Swabs ...
These are my favorite pots for getting lots of nectar plants inside the enclosure. They stack neatly and hold 2" planters perfectly.
14-in. Plastic Stackable 3-Pot Planters
This is the plate I use for water with aquarium stones.
Luminessense Glass Plate Candleholders, 6 in.
I add these to the candle tray for the butterflies to stand on while drinking
Multi-Toned River Pebbles, 32 oz.
These are the perfect size for holding oranges and fruits
7" 6pk Plastic Divided Kids' Dinner Plates - Pillowfort
Carolina Biological Supply provides a kit for raising painted lady butterflies. It comes with a pop up cage for releasing butterflies, a book on butterfly anatomy and a cup of painted lady caterpillars with food.
Painted Lady Butterfly Amazing Bugs® Kit (with live caterpillars)
I love this kit because it provides educational value for high school and college-level students. This kit provides a way for students to measure energy transfer and modifying the environment to explore effects on energy consumption. Students figure out how efficiently Vanessa cardui (painted ladies) convert food energy into body mass. You get a ...
Carolina Investigations® for AP® Environmental Science Lab Bundles
The butterflies seem to like these sponges best. They are soft and a good spot for drinking honey nectar. Cut the sponge in thirds to minimize the risk of a butterfly getting too sticky.
Ocelo Sponges Pack
This is not my preferred feeding setup, but it works well for some butterflies. This includes soft wicks, a bottle for nectar, cups, lids and instructions. It makes 3 feeding stations. I suggest fresh fruit or a solution of water and honey (one part ...
Butterfly Feeding Station Set | Carolina Biological Supply
Butterfly Lesson Teaching Tools
There are tons of amazing tools for teaching students about the life cycle or to do more in-depth studies for older students. I love these resources for lower grades.
These are fantastic for getting a close-up look at real specimens
Excellerations® Insect Life Cycle Specimens - Set of 5
If you are teaching butterfly science to your younger kids, this is a great tool.
Giant Magnetic Butterfly Life Cycle
These manipulatives help little ones understand the butterfly life cycle without having to handle the insect.
Insect Lore Products Animal Study, Live Butterfly ...
This is a great Outschool class for elementary school if you are raising butterflies.
Butterfly Life Cycle (Flex)
I absolutely love this little hands-on set.
Life Cycle Sequencing Kit
If your child loves puzzles, this is the way to go.
Really Good Stuff® Life Cycle Puzzles - 5 puzzles
Beautiful book!
What's Inside a Caterpillar Cocoon? And Other Questions About Moths & Butterflies
Nat Geo made a series of easy readers for earlier grades to learn about metamorphosis.
Caterpillar to Butterfly by Laura Marsh
This is another great Nat Geo book on butterfly migrations.
Great Migrations by Elizabeth Carney
A microscope is a must for checking butterflies and plants for OE infection. It is also realy neat to look at the scales under a microscope.
Handheld / Pocket Microscopes
Cute for learning different species.
Melissa and Doug Butterfly Puzzle
This adorable book teaches about the way butterflies and other insects camoflauge.
Ruth Heller's How To Hide A Butterfly & Other Insects
I always love DK books. This pop-up book gollows the life cycle from egg to butterfly.
Pop-up Peekaboo! Butterfly - By Dk (board Book)
This book introduces different moths and butterflies to younger children.
Smithsonian Kids Butterflies and Moths - by Rose Nestling ...
This kit is customizable, but includes a mesh enclosure, 33 larvae and food, and one year of access to virtual teaching resources.
Butterflies in the Classroom Kit (with live caterpillars)
This provides one-year access to set-up, phenomena and activity videos as well as pre-lab activities, digital interactive lessons, digital simulations, teacher's guide, and downloadable resources. This is really useful if you already have your butterflies and supplies, but need lesson plans.
Butterflies in the Classroom Digital Resources - Carolina Biological