Felix Fettig at work
Felix Fettig is passionate about butterflies, native plants and amphibians. In 3rd grade Felix started raising monarch caterpillars and has done this activity for the past five years.
“ I just feel really passionate about this. I have raised monarchs, painted ladies, red admirals, polyphemus moths luna moths, cecropia moths, red spotted purples, viceroy, giant swallowtails, black swallowtails and tiger swallowtails. In all, I have raised and released hundreds of butterflies. This has got me a lot more interested in life science. I also like to growing carnivorous plants and love amphibians. That is why we built the pond up on the hill. Amphibians are very important because they are an indicator species.”
Butterfly garden, designed and planted by Felix when he was in 5th grade.
Felix’s original butterfly garden plan
White admiral in his butterfly garden.
“Black swallowtail larvae. I found the eggs on the parsley and dill and am feeding them Golden Alexander leaves.”
“This one is the tiger swallowtail. It is in its 5th instar and will turn brown soon. That is when you know it is going to pupate. I feed it green ash.”
Felix was in 5th grade when he made this drawing.
Monarch pupae.
“I raised the monarchs from eggs that were on the milkweed in my butterfly garden.”
Salamander yearly migration cycle.
“The drawing above shows vernal pond and wintering pond/lake. The adults can’t breed in the wintering pond because the fish will eat the larva and adults. In the spring salamanders migrate to a vernal pond (has no fish and dries up in late spring). The adults lay their eggs and the larvae metamorphose before the pond dries up in the spring. They then spend the summer underground in the moist soil of the vernal pond and travel to the wintering pond/lake in the fall.”
Amphibian pond that Felix designed and built last year.
