How To - Caterpillar to Butterfly Metamorphosis, Time Lapse

The classroom potential really got me with this one. Kids are only at school for a limited time. Chances are the butterfly appears while the kids are away, at lunch or recess. How disappointing would it be to miss the actual event. With time lapse, the event can be captured and replayed on the SmartBoard or posted to Facebook for parents to enjoy too.

The educational potential goes far beyond caterpillars and butterflies. 3D printing, ants creating tunnels, tadpoles turning into frogs, plants growing, petri dish bacteria growth, capturing mold growth, life cycle of a fruit fly, cloud formations, building projects and many more.

This tutorial is wordy but the project is simple. If you have questions at any point, please contact us. All you really need is a time lapse camera, a caterpillar and an environment for nature to work its magic. The Brinno TLC 200 Pro is a decent  choice or more suited and advanced Afidus ATL-200S with the macro zoom for projects like this. With either of these two camera brand systems the basis will still apply. 

Once you have your caterpillar source, find a suitable environment, preferably something with flat glass sides. A small aquarium would be perfect, I used a square glass vase. You will need a cover (window screen, cloth), something breathable. Keep in mind, caterpillars like to climb to the highest point before they spin a cocoon or molt into a chrysalis. Whatever you choose for a cover may end up being in your shot.

Give your caterpillars a natural surrounding with their food source (milkweed). Water soaked paper towel should keep plants green and you may need to swap them if they start to look undesirable. Put a stick or small branch in the container, something rigid extending towards the top for the caterpillar to latch onto when it's time.

Now, set-up your camera. The reason the Afidus camera is the perfect choice, is the long battery life, macro zoom and Auto Exposure advanced options in settings. Depending on the capture interval, the batteries will last from days to months. Card storage capacity is the greatest concern as there is so much time waiting for something to happen. I recommend at least a 16 GB card which will allow you to capture a frame every two seconds for 24 hours before filling up. This allows you to start recording at the end of a day and record overnight. If something happens by morning, congratulations, chances are you captured the action. If nothing happened, delete the files on the card and try again.

Card capacity is one of the biggest considerations. The good parts of your video happen relatively quickly so you need a fast capture interval. Here is a look at how long you can run different sized cards.

A 32GB card, capturing every two seconds would allow your camera to record all weekend. A capture every second is ideal, every two seconds will work if you can't attend to the card.

Your camera should be placed on a stable surface or tripod close to the glass. The lens will need to be manually focused, we are working on a focusing article, for now give us a call and we will be happy to walk you through the process.

Lights are a consideration. Your video will look better with a consistent light source (clamp lights, flexible desk lamp, etc.) and the action may take place overnight. Some lights produce banding in the video which can be corrected, however, testing and changing the light would be a much better option.

Now the wait begins. I am not sure how different caterpillars do their thing but the Monarch caterpillar will attach to high point and form a “J”, this is when you want to start recording. Once the J is formed, this provides the focus point and is where the action is going to take place.


This process doesn't last long and quickly you will have a nice dangling chrysalis.

Now, another wait begins, at this point it will be 10-15 days before anything happens. After approximately 10 days check the chrysalis for color change. 

In the Afidus Time lapse camera system there are five recording modes; Schedule  Timelapse is the the primary mode to shoot in. For Caterpillar metamorphosis in the future we would start in time lapse schedule record mode then once the chrysalis is formed switch this to HyBrid recording mode. It's the best of both worlds. The Afidus Time Lapse 200S camera is unique because it includes a motion sensor. HyBrid recording mode will record in Time Lapse when there is little action. Then when the chrysalis begins to gently move it would switch into live motion capture at 30FPS. The perfect solution for the best of both worlds. For this capture we would recommend using a 32gb at the very least. 

Once the chrysalis starts to darken the action is about to begin. This process takes some time. Be prepared to check the camera and chrysalis every day. Once you see the wing color through the clear chrysalis the butterfly will emerge quickly. Record as long as you want. As it emerges the butterfly will slowly beat and fill out its wings.

Now is time for the release. If at all possible do this with kids, their curious little minds will be in awe to witness the resulting caterpillar transition into a beautiful butterfly. With phone camera in hand, capture the moment and their expression as the butterfly gently moves around climbing on their hand and lifting off their palm for the first time.

At this point you will have some editing work to do. You will probably cut out a lot of nothing happening, speed up portions and slow down others. Editing the video is great extra credit work if students are of the age to be capable of editing.

SPECIAL OFFER: Editing can be tricky. We are offering one free quick project edit per year to any teachers, schools or organizations who purchase a Afidus ATL-200S from us. We will offer additional quick edits at discounted educational rates depending on the project complexity. This applies to short, classroom educational projects, you can't document a new school build with this offer.

About Me, Marie: I love all things time lapse and I create content for TimeLapseCameras.com. I have captured two tornados, thousands of hours of construction and much more. I demistify the Afidus camera system and generate all the How to Articles associated with that system for our Internationl user base. I am a graphic designer, photographer, and video editor as a digital communications artist. The TimeLapseCameras.com logo is my work, along with other elements of this site and everything on www.AfidusCam.com. Now, I am an official blog author and I may be found installing firmware and shipping cameras. My personal site is at www.dmcreativedesign.com.

We are here to help you from start to finish and want your project to be a success. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.