We got 3 little caterpillars in this cup. They were around an inch long when they arrived.
In a week, they more than doubled in size. See this one at the top of the cup, just under the lid.
They crawled up to the top of the cup and hung from the lid in a "J" shaped. In a couple of hours, they had formed crysalis around themselves. We never saw this in steps. We saw them one minute as hanging caterpillars, and then the next time we checked, they were hidden away in their crysalis! In this picture you can see one in the front which is already a crysalis and one toward the back that had not yet formed. 
A couple of days after they had formed into their crysalis, we moved them to their tent to emerge. The lid of the cup was lined with paper, making the transfer easy.
One week later, they emerged within hours of each other! We were hoping to see at least one of them as it came out of the crysalis, but they were sneaky :) We checked on them frequently throughout the day, but we never caught one of them emerging. They would be quietly tucked inside the crysalis one minute, and then we would find a new butterfly completely out the next time we looked!
Here is one getting ready to eat. We put drops of sugar water on some flowers from outside. It was neat to watch them use their long probiscus to eat.
Of course, we finally had to let them go. Cati suggested that we release them on Ascension Thursday, about 4 days after they emerged. Maria wanted to let them out in our flower garden, hoping they might like the area and want to stick around.
We had to wait a few minutes for them to become brave enough to venture outside their little tent, but as soon as they found the door, they were off!
One decided to stick around on our bushes for a few minutes before flying away.
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