Working in the Lab

Lab Work

There are many jobs during lab work.

First we check the caterpillars in by:
1) Identifying the
2) Identifying the host plant (the plant they eat)
3) Identifying the life stage
4) Giving the caterpillar a number
5) Entering all of the data of the of the caterpillar

6) Photographing the caterpillar

Next we make sure they have enough food and then hang the bag on the rearing rack.

Zoo is another job in which we clean out the bag the caterpillar is in. We also check to see if the life stage of the caterpillar has changed or if it had been parasitized (when wasps or flies lay eggs in the caterpillars and then emerge out of the caterpillar.)

Leaf measurement is a third job. We will measure the area of each type of host plant (10 measurements of each type of host plant).

Data base- The photographs are put into groups of caterpillars by number.

We will spend 1/2 the day doing lab work and the other half out in the field.



This is called a Limacodidae caterpillar.

Lab work at the bunkhouse.

Bonus Question...

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We will all be going back into the town of New Orleans tonight for Halloween. We are staying at a very interesting place where there are some unexpected guests. Ghost Hunters will be going back in January to film this hotel. What is different and spooky about this hotel? Since it's Halloween we may run into these unexpected guests...
To be continued...

Challenge question...

1.Why did we have to take a Kayak?

2. Why do you think we didn't find any caterpillars? Explain.

Day 4- Kayaking

Here are some videos of our field work today. We drove to Mississippi, launched our kayaks into the Pearl River and Kayaked a few miles to the woods. Mississippi was on one side of the river and Louisiana was on the other side of the river. It was an experience today!

A bump in the road (water)

Cutting our way through the woods.

No Caterpillars

What I have encountered so far...

Thank you all for leaving great questions and comments. So far we found over 300 caterpillars since Monday. Some types of caterpillars that we found are Fall Webworms, Purple Crusted Slug, and Saddle back. The only poisonous caterpillar that we found is the Purple crusted slug. Caterpillars are herbivores, they only eat plants. Some plants that they eat are ferns, Holly, Sweet Gum, and Maple.
I think that the most dangerous thing that I have experienced was when we went to plot in the woods, it is hunting season, so their were hunters in the woods. I was a little nervous but we all had out bright orange vests on!

Challenge question...

What kind of characteristics does the Fall webworm have?

Can you find the alligator? What characteristic does he have to protect him from predators? Define predator and prey.

Day 3- Out in the field.

A beautiful spot in the woods. I was so excited that I found a Fall webworm hangingout ina maple tree.

Rearing rack for caterpillars. They are hanging in the plastic bags with their food (host plant)

Today we proceesed more caterpillars and did something called "zoo work," which is where we cleaned the caterpillar's bag and made sure it had enough food and it was healthy. We also looked for life cycle changes in the caterpillar. After lunch we went back out into the woods and plotted some more. On our way back to the bunkhouse we saw a wild boar. It was HUGE! Tomorrow should be a blast. We are taking the kayaks out and hopefully we will find some caterpillars and not run into any alligators.

Challenge question...

1.If we search a plot with a diameter of 10 meters, what is the radius? What is the formula?

2. Rebecca and I took data on herbivory. What does the word herbivore mean? What do you think we were taking data on and why? Hint... we collected them along with the caterpillars.

Day 3- Out in the field.

You will never believe the journey that we went on today. First we drove out to the forest and parked on the side of the road. I was thinking..this isn't so bad. We will just walk a few yards to the area we wanted to plot. Well I was wrong! Our team of 4 were ready with our gear; waterproof boots, backpacks and many layers of clothing because it was very cold (for us floridians...about 65 degrees. We trecked through a muddy swamp that was up to our calves and we had to climb over knocked down trees and branches. Thank goodness there weren't any snakes! Then when I thought that I had the hang of it, I stepped down, lost my balance and my foot kept sinking in the cold, muddy, water and my boot started to fill up with water. I grabbed onto the log in front of me and hopped on it. When I thought it couldn't get any worse with a cold, soaking wet foot we now had to walk on a log to get across the swamp. We all made it safely to our destination.

We set up a plot and Rebecca and I took data on herbivory (all the plants and trees within the 10 meter diameter) while the rest of the team collected caterpillars. After about 3 hours in the field we went back for lunch and then made observations and recorded our data (name of the caterpillar, name of the plant, location, and date). It was a packed day with many adventures.

In the video I talk about what we do when we plot an area.

This is the swamp we had to cross.

Do you see my friend on my shoulder? What is it?

Challenge question...

1. We will be observing the caterpillars we catch. How will we observe the caterpillars? What observations do you think we will make? Make a prediction of what you think we will learn by the end of the trip.

2. What type of biome are we studying in?

Day 2- Setting Up and going on our first hunt for caterpillars.

I hope you all were able to check out my blog. I had a great, comfortable flight, thank you for asking. Today we set up our reasearch area in the bunkhouse.

After lunch we headed out to the forest and began our search for caterpillars. At first we collected caterpillars and the plant it feeds from so they have food for the week while we observe them. Next we set up a plotting area with a 10 meter diameter and collected caterpillars, host plants and estimated the amount of leaves on each host plant. Tomorrow we plan to set up the caterpillars on the rearing rack and collect some data and then go back out into the field.

The caterpillars build tents in the trees for protection.

Challenge question...

Answer all questions are to be answered in your Hunting For Caterpillars Section of your notebook.
If my flight to New Orleans left Tampa at 12:30 pm and I arrived in New Orleans at 1:00 pm and my flight is 1 1/2 hours (90 minutes) long. How is it that I arrived in New Orleans only 1/2 hour (30 minutes) later than my departure time at 12:30?

My first day in New Orleans!

Hi! Well I had a safe flight to New Orleans. I met my team and there are 7 of us teachers working together. We have a really good group. Today we all met up and went out to dinner and then drove about an hour to the Pearl River Management Bunkhouse. I feel like I am at camp, we have about 4 bunkbeds set up in a 1 room bunkhouse and we are in the middle of the woods. Tomorrow will be our first day in the field. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Hunting for Caterpillars

I am on my way to New Orleans!