First Day as an Actual Caterpillar Huntress

Today was our first day out in the field. We spent our morning learning about what types of caterpillars to look for...it was kind of like being a student again! Then we got all dressed up in our outfits and headed out to the swamplands. Watch the video of us trekking to our plot site!

Why do you think we are dressed in all orange???

The first thing we do is find an area to plot. Then we mark off 5 meters in each direction.

Can you think of anything that is 5 meters long?

Next, we search on every leaf, tree and bush for caterpillars. If we find one, we pick it up, put it in our ziploc bag, and tag it (write the date, type of caterpillar and what tree we found it on). The picture to the left is the first type of caterpillar I found. It is called a Skipper caterpillar. After we have found all the caterpillars in our plot, we have to estimate how many different types of vegetation are in our plot.

What is vegetation and why is it important to caterpillars?

Finally, we have to estimate how many leaves are on all the different trees, shrubs and bushes in our plot. That is REALLY hard to do!

For your homework Monday night, I want you to pick a tree or bush in your yard or in the yard at recess. Try and estimate how many leaves are on that one tree. Write down your estimate, as well as how you figured out your estimate. Good Luck Hunters!