MEMBERS OF THE BUTTERFLY FESTIVAL COMMITTEE RECENTLY TOOK 150 BUTTERFLY EGGS TO CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. GAZETTE PHOTO JILL BALLINGER Thursday, March 25 started a new tradition for the Mariposa Butterfly Festival. Four members of the Butterfly Festival Committee traveled to Madera to present butterfly eggs to the children at Children's Hospital. A total of 150 eggs were carried into the classroom as several of the children watched Jeanetta Phillips and Dell Knell separate each egg into its own individual environment. Shelly Dulcich and Yvonne Sarazin explained the separation and growth process to the children.

Each tiny larva is approximately the size of a grain of rice. They are so delicate that they must be separated by carefully using a tiny paint brush to lift them out of the container that they arrive in. They are then gently moved into a small covered cup with enough food for the larva to thrive until it becomes a chrysalis. In about 10 days they will increase in size from that tiny larva to a fuzzy covered caterpillar that's about two inches long. As it matures it begins to form a chrysalis, this is a hard shell that the caterpillar forms around itself so it can metamorphose into a butterfly. Once the caterpillar changes into a chrysalis it is then moved into a large netted cage called a pavilion to await it's final change into a butterfly. The entire process takes between three and four weeks.

On April 22, Earth Day, at 2 p.m., the festival committee will return to Children's Hospital to help the youngsters release their mature butterflies into nature. For more information or to attend the release contact ButterflyFestival@sti.net.