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January 22, 2012

Hi! My name is Casey. I live in a small, plastic 

container with all the food I could ever ask for. My 

home is in the room of a nice college student named 

Hillary. She is raising me for her education class 

called Teaching Science. Right now, I am just a tiny 

little larva, but soon I will get bigger and become a 

caterpillar. Once I am a caterpillar, I will go through 

a lot of changes until I become a beautiful Painted 

Lady butterfly!

        January 26, 2012

       I have been living in Hillary’s room for 4 days now! Already I have grown lots! 

When she first adopted me, I was only about 1/2 cm. in length and about 1/10 cm. 

wide. Today when she measured me, she said I am about 1 cm. long and about 3/10 

cm. around my wide. My legs seem to be getting longer too. Wow, I am growing! I 

am also getting hairier. Little, spikey hairs, or spiracles, cover my body now. 

Hillary cannot believe how much I have changed since she first took me home!

       I have been feeling lazy lately. I do not inch around or eat as much as I did 

at first. I think I scare Hillary sometimes because she thinks I am dead when I 

do not move. I still eat and move, but much less frequently. When Hillary is 

sleeping and at school or work, I work, move, and eat. She noticed the web that I 

have begun to make in my container just the other day. She looked online and 

found that my web is likely of silk. I cannot wait to see her reaction when I shed 

my skin, or cuticle, and eat it, make my chrysalis, or turn into a butterfly like she 

read about!

       She is going to be so amazed!

      January 27, 2012

        I cannot believe how fast I am growing! I grew another centimeter overnight, bringing 

my new length to about 2 cm! I am still about 3/10 cm. wide today. Hillary told me that her 

college professor told her that once I started growing, I would start to grow very quickly. I 

think her professor was right!

       Hillary was happy to see me inching around in my container today. As she was measuring 

me, I started to move around and reposition myself. She seemed very interested in watching 

how I move since it is so different from how she moves. When Hillary moves, she uses two 

legs to walk upright. When I move, I inch a little bit of my body at a time. It is quite a 

process! To move only a few centimeters uses every part of my body. My hair-like legs keep 

me stuck to the side of my container and get me to where I need to go when I decide to 

move. Hillary also saw me eating and munching while she watched me. I guess my food is what 

is helping me to grow! 

       Hillary noticed some black spots all around my container. She looked it up online and 

discovered that those black spots are the waste that I leave behind. She also noticed that I 

tend to stay around the web that I built in my container. I like when Hillary watches me. I 

can tell she really cares about me when she notices the little things I do and how I grow! 

        January 28, 2012

       I have gotten a bit fatter since yesterday. When Hillary 

measured me today, I was still 2 cm. long, but I am now about 4/10 

cm. wide. I must be eating more! I am growing every day!

       Today when Hillary was watching me, she saw me eating my 

lunch! As she was measuring me, I inched myself down the side of 

my container until my head was close enough to my food that I 

could stretch and reach to nibble. I think Hillary is happy that I 

have been moving and eating more when she is watching me. I do 

not want her to think I am boring!

       My web is also becoming more intricate every day. It stretches 

diagonally across my container, and serves as a tent-like area for 

me. I tend to stay in the area underneath my web. It is almost like 

a little home within my home! 

      January 29, 2012

       My measurements for today were 2 and 3/10 cm. long and 6/10 

cm. wide.

       Today was a lazy day. I did not move around much. I stretched 

a bit, moved my head around a little bit, and ate a few bites while 

Hillary was watching me, but otherwise, I stayed and rested in once 

small spot. 

       I am beginning to look like a very furry caterpillar! Hillary says 

that I am starting to look very spikey and hairy with my spiracles 

getting darker and more numerous.

       I think I may be getting ready to shed my cuticle. I am growing 

so much so fast, so I think I might be outgrowing my skin! It is also 

a bit strenuous for me to move. Maybe that is why I was so lazy and 

immobile today, and maybe in a few days I will shed! I hope Hillary 

is here to see it when it happens!

Later that night...

       I SHED MY CUTICLE FOR THE FIRST TIME! Hillary was 

right! She did not actually see my skin come off, but when she 

walked by me, she did a double take, then came back and peered 

into my container. Near me was a spikey black ball. She knew right 

away that I had shed. I look pretty much the same and am about 

the same size. My spiracles look lighter and have a whitish hue to 

them though. Wow, this was an exciting night for Hillary and me!

January 30, 2012

       Not much has changed since I shed my skin. I look the 

same as before; dark coloring with light yellowish 

stripes, as well as stubby little legs underneath me and 

spiracles covering   my body. I think I have grown since 

shedding my cuticle though. I am now 3 and 2/10 cm. 

long and ½ cm. wide. Maybe shedding my skin will help me 

to grow faster. Maybe my new cuticle is able to stretch 

more to accommodate how quickly I am growing!

        It was another lazy day in my container. I inched 

around a bit and ate a little while Hillary worked on 

homework, but otherwise, nothing new.

        January 31. 2012

        I cannot believe how much I am growing! Today when Hillary measured me, I was 3 and 

½ cm. long and 6/10 cm. wide. My legs and spiracles are becoming much more prominent. I 

look nothing like the larva that I started out as a few weeks ago! Hillary barely recognizes 

me! She read online that I will probably molt or shed again once or twice because of how fast 

I am growing. I wonder how much bigger I will get before going through more changes on my 

way to becoming a butterfly? The pictures she saw on line indicate that I will become much 

fatter and furrier, and possibly change colors a bit. One website said that I will go through 5 

stages over 12-18 days, so I still have a lot of growing and changing to do!

       I have been eating more and more lately. Hillary noticed that I have started to build up 

an area in my container of my food. I have made the food into little balls, which are stacked 

up against one side of my container. Maybe it has something to do with me getting ready to 

build my chrysalis...one website said that caterpillars eat a lot more before they turn into a 

chrysalis.

       Hillary thinks I should be starting to turn into chrysalis soon based on the typical life 

cycle of a vanessa cardui. I will build my chrysalis soon. Once I have entered my chrysalis, it 

will only be a matter of time before I am a butterfly! I will likely stay in the chrysalis stage 

for about 10 days.

February 1, 2012

        Last night, Hillary read something online that said that I would be starting 

to form my chrysalis soon. The website said to remove the lid of my container and 

put a piece of toilet paper, paper towel, or tissue paper over to opening of the 

container and under the lid, and then to put the lid back on. So Hillary took a 

square of toilet paper and did what the website told her to. I fooled with her by 

staying close to the top of the container so that she could not open it. She was 

afraid I would escape! Eventually, I inched towards the bottom and let her place 

the toilet paper.

       It is a good thing she put the toilet paper there last night, because when she 

came home from school today, she found me clinging to the paper towel under the 

lid at the top of the container. She said that it was just as the website had said; 

caterpillars eat lots in the days before they are ready to make the cocoon. They 

then crawl to the top of the container and cling to the toilet paper when they are 

ready to begin making their cocoon. Maybe in the next few days I will begin!

        My measurements for today were 5 cm. long and 7/10 cm. wide.

         February 2, 2012

       Today was a busy day for me! While Hillary was at school, I was doing 

a lot of moving around in my container. When she came home, she found 

more of my food in tiny little ball like pellets. She also saw that I had 

taken much of the food from one side of my container and pushed it up 

against one of the opposite sides.

       Remember that piece of toilet paper Hillary put under the cover of 

my container the other day? Well, I have begun to nibble at it. There are 

now a few holes in the toilet paper piece where I chewed threw. I guess I 

am just a very hungry caterpillar.

       I am still perched on the cover of my container. I wonder when I will 

continue to form my chrysalis. Maybe in a few days...

       My measurements for today were 5 and ½ cm. long and 8/10 cm. wide.

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