Your tiny larvae. When the larvae are all out (usually within 24 hours), take several leaves of the chosen foodplants, and very LIGHTLY sprinkle them with a very light mist of water, which is important to the tiny larvae, as many will take their first drink, and seem to grow right before your very eyes - as they expand with water - which will give them a healthy start towards feeding! Sometimes I'll place a very small piece of unscented paper towel, tissue, or toilet paper and add enough water to soak it well, and place it on a leaf, and when transferring the larvae, I place them on THIS (instead of spraying the leaves), and when the larvae are ready...... they'll crawl off this to feed. After the leaves have been prepared, I find it best to transfer the larvae with a very small paint brush, or maybe a toothpick. Here's where patience is needed, as each tiny caterpilar has to be worked off whatever they're sitting on very carefully, and transferred just as carefully to the moist piece of paper. Usually with little effort they can be "worked off", and onto the new surface. Also never cram the container with leaves, but place several leaves in there SIDE BY SIDE - the way they grow naturally! Air it out daily, and you should have no troubles in getting started! Also some larvae feed very nicely right from the beginning, while others don't! Some like to wander around a lot more, so here's what I do: I simply pinch a leaf or two under the lid of the container, and since their favorite crawling space seems to be around the edge where the lid meets the side, these strategically-placed leaves usually do the trick! Also make sure you're using the right foods! A species that feeds on oak for example will do poorly (or not at ALL!) if you toss in apple leaves! Also a note about food plants: Lets say you have a species that takes oak, willow, and birch according to the instructions, and you happen to have access to all three, try placing a leaf or two of EACH in with them and see which one(s) they prefer......... and stay with that type for the duration of that generation, as some species will DIE if they are changed from one food to another after feeding on one for several weeks. (I may include a list later of "favorite foods" for different species, both from the opinion of the caterpillars, as well as the ability of the plant to stay fresh after being cut, and placed in water, much like a rose in a vase!).

Small larvae, and molting. After several days the leaves will need replaced, and this is a rather easy process. Simply remove the leaves from the container and set them aside for the moment as the container is wiped out, then place in some nice, fresh leaves. Sometimes it even helps to take scissors and snip some tips off the leaves, thus revealing some "exposed" leaf, for any caterpillars who may be reluctant to feed by starting a new place on a new, untouched leaf! While you still have the scissors in-hand, pick up the old leaves with the caterpillars on them, and prepare to cut around the larvae, rather than try and pull them off the leaf. This is important, and I'll get to that later, for if they're molting (shedding their skin), it could be deadly to them to be pulled off their little surface! Before you snip though, look at both sides of the leaf, as caterpillars could be on the top - as well as the bottom of the leaf - and a thoughtless SNIP could easily slice one in two! Place the larvae on the new leaves, and later remove the little pieces of leaf you transferred over with the caterpillars, and don't be concerned with watering them just yet, as the water given at hatching should work just fine........ for now! More about watering later! MOLTING - The average caterpillar goes thru seven molts. The first five occur in the larval stage, and #6 takes place when the caterpillar loses its skin for good as it enters into the pupal realm.... and number seven is the number of perfection - as the pupa sheds away....... thus revealing the adult! It's during these molts the creature is most helpless, and great care is demanded! Until you know what to look for, treat EVERY caterpillar as if it's molting! At the actual larval molting-time, they spin a pad of silk and anchor their feet to it, and there they sit........ often for several days, before they finally leave their old skin, eat it, and go on with life! Anyways if a caterpillar is pulled off this support, they often fail to find something to grab onto, thus being strangled by their old skin! First off if you find a caterpillar with a girdle of its own skin around it (which is easily seen by the very unnatural constriction around its body), it's easy to fix by simply taking the old ring of skin with your fingernail and very gently breaking it loose, and presto! A "fixed" caterpillar! Also if one is accidentally pulled loose from its support, place it on a small piece of dry paper towel. This usually works, as well as does an empty cocoon. Anyways, when they're transferred carefully, you'll have little trouble in getting all your larvae to the very important next stage! What we've dealt with HERE are the small larvae, less than an inch long, and usually into the third molt, and after about two weeks. From here the tactics will change in their up-bringing, as they finally "get a break" from their plastic world, and are ready for "free air"!