Guy Finds Caterpillars In Tesco Broccoli, Decides To Raise Them Into Butterflies And Documents The Entire Process

What would you do if you bought some broccoli and found caterpillars living in it? Ask the store for a refund? Raise the critters as your children? Document it all and post the story on the Internet? British media personality Sam Darlaston did all of the above.

The host of KISS FM UK and a vegetarian “met” the first caterpillar on June 11th when he started to prepare his favorite vegetable purchased from a local Tesco supermarket. At first, he was shocked but that feeling quickly disappeared when he realized he had a new pet to enjoy during the lockdown in his London home.

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Guy Finds Caterpillars In Tesco Broccoli, Decides To Raise Them Into Butterflies And Documents The Entire Process

“I did my research initially and discovered the exact type of caterpillar/butterfly we were dealing with (a cabbage white),” Darlaston told HuffPost. “I then decided to build him a little home in my lounge with all the broccoli he wanted.”

The small, or European, cabbage white (Pieris rapae) was introduced to North America c. 1860 and is one of the most common white butterflies on the continent. It has white or cream-colored wings with small black dots and lays its eggs singly on leaves. The large cabbage white (P. brassicae) is found throughout Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It rocks large black spots with a black band on the tip of its white wings and lays its eggs in characteristic clusters. Both species are considered to be major economic pests and can locally decimate cabbage and other crops. So as you can imagine, running into Darlaston was pretty much the best outcome this little buddy could’ve hoped for.

Guy Finds Caterpillars In Tesco Broccoli, Decides To Raise Them Into Butterflies And Documents The Entire Process

Tesco refunded him the $1.37 for the caterpillar-infested broccoli, and Sam used the money to buy more veggies and, unexpectedly, got more caterpillars. “The broccoli I’d got as a replacement contained 5 more,” Darlaston said. “And then a 3rd broccoli belonging to my housemate had another one! So 1 became 7 caterpillars overnight!”

Guy Finds Caterpillars In Tesco Broccoli, Decides To Raise Them Into Butterflies And Documents The Entire Process

After Darlaston shared his caterpillar story on Twitter, it instantly went viral, generating over 92K likes and 51K retweets. All of this hype got Tesco’s — the groceries and general merchandise retailer where Sam bought the broccoli — attention as well. However, the best part of this story isn’t the refund. Rather, the metamorphosis that gave life to a bunch of very handsome butterflies.

Guy Finds Caterpillars In Tesco Broccoli, Decides To Raise Them Into Butterflies And Documents The Entire Process

“I’m a firm believer in not harming any animals or insects if possible and I just sort of knew what I had to do after googling how to keep a caterpillar,” he explained his choice to keep the little buddies. Taking care of them was no easy task and Sam faced quite a few challenges, especially when the caterpillars started evolving toward their mature state.

“The biggest challenge I faced whilst raising the caterpillars was their love of escaping! Especially when they are about to cocoon. “One day, we found one on an ornamental vanilla stick! One under a table and one under a candle holder cocooning! They’d broke free from the paper lid!”

Guy Finds Caterpillars In Tesco Broccoli, Decides To Raise Them Into Butterflies And Documents The Entire Process

But Darlaston got everything under control and is now a proud father of fully-grown butterflies. Like a good father should, after he prepared his kids for the big world, the man let them free. “I felt a tiny bit sad watching them spread their wings but the overall feeling was happiness,” Darlaston said. “I’m just happy at least one of us gets to go out during these times.”

“If I find more, I’d 100% do it all again.”

OH MY WORD. Went for a run… (call me Mo Farah) GOT BACK AND THERE’S 3 BUTTERFLIES!!!! CROC HAS BEEN JOINED BY BROC AND OLLY!!!!!! 3!!!!!! 🦋🦋🦋 pic.twitter.com/xD42awfxZo
— Sam Darlaston (@samd_official) June 25, 2020

AN HONOUR to be on @BBCRadio2 with the legend @theJeremyVine discussing my caterpillars and releasing Broc and Olly live on air 🥦🐛 this is it, life’s peaked really pic.twitter.com/KLFp1rDg1d
— Sam Darlaston (@samd_official) June 25, 2020

Guy Finds Caterpillars In Tesco Broccoli, Decides To Raise Them Into Butterflies And Documents The Entire Process

Image credits: samd_official

The story got so popular, it even attracted Tesco’s attention

Guy Finds Caterpillars In Tesco Broccoli, Decides To Raise Them Into Butterflies And Documents The Entire Process

Image credits: Tesco

And people absolutely loved it

Guy Finds Caterpillars In Tesco Broccoli, Decides To Raise Them Into Butterflies And Documents The Entire Process

Image credits: giloi

Guy Finds Caterpillars In Tesco Broccoli, Decides To Raise Them Into Butterflies And Documents The Entire Process

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Guy Finds Caterpillars In Tesco Broccoli, Decides To Raise Them Into Butterflies And Documents The Entire Process

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Guy Finds Caterpillars In Tesco Broccoli, Decides To Raise Them Into Butterflies And Documents The Entire Process

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Guy Finds Caterpillars In Tesco Broccoli, Decides To Raise Them Into Butterflies And Documents The Entire Process

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Guy Finds Caterpillars In Tesco Broccoli, Decides To Raise Them Into Butterflies And Documents The Entire Process

Image credits: studiomarlinde

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

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As a Visual Editor at Bored Panda, I indulge in the joy of curating delightful content, from adorable pet photos to hilarious memes, all while nurturing my wanderlust and continuously seeking new adventures and interests—sometimes thrilling, sometimes daunting, but always exciting!

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Maria Rohlen 4 years ago

No Monsanto as long as you can see, pure organic!

24points

Zoe Murphy 4 years ago

AnnelieseGirl, I think you misunderstood how to take a profile picture. It’s supposed to show your face not your butt. Unless that is your face but then that means you have misspelled your name. It should be AnalieseGirl.

2points

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Azziza 4 years ago

https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2016/05/gmo-safety-debate-is-over/

0points

VictoriaCutee 4 years ago (edited)

Hey, ✅✅ I'm bored! (⊙▂⊙) Let’s have a great time together (⊙▂⊙) ==>> g︆︆︆︆g.︆︆︆︆gg/jv8ch

-3points

AnnelieseGirl 4 years ago (edited)

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Janine B. 4 years ago

Brimstone butterflies! I love them, they're so pretty. And real badasses. They even survive winters with temperatures down to - 20°C because their bodies contain glycerine. All unnecessary water is released before the cold season and so they can survive outside. So bye for now, I'm going to shop some broccoli. 🥦 🦋

20points

Ruth Mayfly 4 years ago

They're not Brimstones. They have the wrong wing shape and markings, and Brimstone butterfly caterpillars only eat Buckthorn. These are Cabbage White butterflies which only eat plants in the cabbage family.

20points

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