Fascinated with Caterpillar

I caught this little fella chowing on the leaves of my Adenium plant. It has been a project that I have wanted to embark on for quite sometime ~ monitoring the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly. So, I gladly place it in a plastic jar and covered it with a paper with holes made on it.

I named this little fella "Ah Pui" (which means "Fatty" in my Hokkien dialect). When I first caught sight of it, this caterpillar was green in colour and much tinier than what it looks like now. It ate voraciously and at least twice a day I had to pluck leaves from my Adenium to feed it. Each morning when I check on it, the leaves in the container would be gone. Only droppings by this caterpillar filled the bottom of the container.

As we are spending this weekend in my hometown in Melaka, I took Ah Pui home with us. Unfortunately my mom's young Adenium plant only has several tiny leaves. I plucked 2 for it. After several hours, the leaves were gone. Concerned that it may die from hunger, I fed it with hibiscus leaves. The next morning, I found it stiff and no longer as soft as the day before.

Oh no!! Did I kill Ah Pui by feeding it with hibiscus leaves? Some brown juice appeared from its body. I was saddened by the incident. Shaking the container didn't produce any reaction from this little fella.

Instead of throwing the container instantly, I kept it next to my sister's little tortoise. This morning when I shook the container, I found Ah Pui moving! Gosh, it's still alive! My Ah Pui is still alive. I was overjoyed!

Will continue to monitor Ah Pui's development and I hope it will grow into a beautiful butterfly soon. Sometimes I feel guilty for capturing this little fella instead of letting it roam in my garden. Be assured that I will return it to nature after it turns into a butterfly. I promise to take good care of it.