Answers to Your Challenge Questions

Hello Everyone,

Today I spent the day in the "lab" cleaning the bags of the 500 or so caterpillars we've collected.

Some caterpillars are pupating (I'll show you pictures). Other caterpillars have been parasitized and the wasp larvae are starting to come out of the caterpillars. This is one of the things the scientists are really interested in, and I must admit, it's really amazing even though it kills the caterpillar. This is a part of nature, after all, and helps to maintain balance and biodiversity in the ecosystem.

Thank you so much for all of your comments and questions. I'm going to take some time to give you the answers to some of the challenge questions. Then I'll tell you about all of the changes we're seeing with the caterpillars we've collected.

Here are some answers to the challenge questions and some new questions to keep you going.
Many of you guessed that this is the definite tussock moth. This guy's scientific name is Orgyia definita.

This is what the above caterpillar now looks like.

Challenge Question: Do you know what stage of the life cycle this is?

We've found some other caterpillars in the same family, lymantriidae. When scientists classify animals, such as caterpillars, they look for similarities between the two organisms.

Challenge Question: What do you think this caterpillar and the yellow one above have in common?
Click here for help.

This caterpillar hides from predators by looking like, you guessed it! bird poop. This caterpillar is in the papillionidae family. These are the swallow-tailed butterflies.

This is what it looks like today. It's now a pupa. I don't think I'll get to see it emerge as a butterfly. Now that I understand how easy it is to rear caterpillars I'd lilke to try this with my students at Sligo Creek.

You also guessed this one! It's not a caterpillar at all.
This is the cryptic frog. It has camouflage that helps it blend in with this tree trunk.

Here's what it looks like on a different branch.

Here's a video of something really interesting I saw in the lab today.

Challenge Question: Watch the video and tell me what you think this is. Have fun!