Summarize the following:
To keep your caterpillars healthy and happy, it's important to keep their enclosure clean. Carefully remove any leaves and set them aside. If there are caterpillars on the leaves, it's still fine to move them. Just keep an eye on them so they don't crawl away. Replace the paper towels in the bottom of the enclosure, and wipe down the sides of the container with a damp cloth. When you're finished, add fresh milkweed and return any old leaves that had caterpillars on them. Caterpillars produce a lot of droppings, which are called frass. You'll be able to see these small black or brown specks on the bottom of the container. Leaving the frass in the enclosure can cause your Monarch caterpillars to get very sick. Each caterpillar should get about 2-3 fresh leaves a day, even though they won't eat all of it. This will help them feel comfortable as they gather energy for their eventual transformation. During these 2 weeks, you'll see your caterpillars growing dramatically. Your caterpillars will molt about 5 times during this period. They'll often get very still on the side or the top of the container, and you may even see their black head capsule come off. This is perfectly natural, but do not touch your caterpillars during this time, and try to avoid moving the container. If they're attached to the lid, lift it away carefully when you're cleaning. Each time the larvae molt, they enter a new stage, or instar, for a total of 5 instars. These are primarily distinguished by the caterpillar's size, the length of the front and back tentacles, and the development of its stripes, which start to appear near the end of the first instar. Unfortunately, it's normal for some of your caterpillars to die during this 2-week period. As long as you're keeping their cage clean and giving them fresh leaves, the healthy caterpillars should survive. Be sure to remove any dead larvae as soon as you see them, though. You'll typically see dead caterpillars lying on the floor of the enclosure. After about 2 weeks, your caterpillars will be ready to start their transformation into butterflies. When a larva is ready to pupate, it will attach itself to the top or side of the enclosure, or to the bottom of a leaf, with a strand of silk. It will take about 24-36 hours to form a chrysalis, and it's important not to try to move the larva during this time. If it's attached to the lid, move it carefully when you need to clean the tank. If all of your caterpillars have started their transformation, you won't need to clean the cage again until after you release the butterflies. Before a caterpillar starts to change, you may notice that its front tentacles start to droop, and it may be less active than normal. The chrysalis will be light green, although it may darken toward the end of the process. Once the caterpillar forms its chrysalis, the only thing left to do is to wait. While it might not look like much is going on, your caterpillar is undergoing an amazing, dramatic transformation. Monarchs typically emerge in the middle of the morning after about 10-15 days. If you have other caterpillars that haven't started to pupate yet, continue to provide them with fresh milkweed. Of course, be very careful lifting the lid of the container if there's a chrysalis attached. A newly-hatched butterfly will have folded, wet wings, and it's very important to give it time to dry on its own. If you touch it during the first 4 or 5 hours after it hatches, you could damage its fragile wings. After just a few hours, your butterfly will be ready to fly! In order to give your Monarch butterfly the best chance at laying its own eggs, you should release it as soon as you can. Carefully scoop your hands around the butterfly, holding it so that all 4 of its wings are closed vertically. Then, take the butterfly outside and open your hands. It should just fly away! It's best to release your butterfly on a warm, sunny day. If you need to, you can keep the hatched butterfly in the caterpillar enclosure for up to a day while you wait for the right weather conditions. While it's best to release your Monarch butterfly into the wild right away, if you want or need to keep it inside, you should move it to a larger enclosure. You can use a mesh tent, a butterfly cage, or another similar container, but don't keep it with the caterpillars for longer than a day. Put a small dish with a little sugar water and a cotton ball in the butterfly cage for your butterfly to drink. Change the water daily. Clean out the bottom of the cage each day when you're changing the water. Wipe it down with a damp cloth to remove any frass. Keeping adult butterflies in an enclosure with caterpillars could lead to the spread of the OE parasite, which causes dark gray marks to form on the pupae, and your butterflies may not hatch successfully.
Clean the container once a day. Provide your caterpillar with fresh milkweed every day for 2 weeks. Do not disturb the larvae when they attach to a leaf or the container. Watch for your butterfly to emerge after about 10-15 days. Do not touch the butterfly for 4-5 hours after it hatches. Release your butterfly the same day it hatches whenever possible. Move the butterfly to a bigger cage if you're keeping it.