The End of the Hunt

Hi kids,
This is my last blog from Louisiana. Yesterday morning, Ms. Roath videoconferenced with her school for the last time. See the video! Then we packed up the bunkhouse, making sure that it was cleaner then when we arrived, and headed to New Orleans. After stopping by the lab and settiing up the caterpillars on their racks we checked back in to the Parkview Guest house. Last night we enjoyed some wonderful New Orleans cooking and jazz music.
This morning we continued working in the lab cataloging the last batch of caterpillars and checking on the earlier ones. We had our last videonconferences and I videoconferenced with the 8th grade. After lunch we tried to go to The Insectarium, a musem of insects, but we were too late. We toured a little more around downtown New Orleans before dinner. Tomorrow I will be flying back to Connecticut and I'll see you all on Thursday.

1. For today, first go to http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/sl/16/0.html and watch the slideshow on "When, Where and How to Watch Fall Monarch Migration"
2. Answer the questions in the slideshow:
How many monarchs per minute can you count?

How many monarchs per hour would that be?

Where would you like to watch migration after looking at this map?

What questions does it raise?

When do monarchs begin to roost where you live?

Last weekend for finding caterpillars

It may be the weekend, but we get no break from hunting for caterpillars. Yesterday, which was Saturday, I went in the kayaking group. We went into Mississippi to find a boat launch on the East Pearl River. The boat launch turned out to be in NASA’s Stennis Space Center’s property. This is where NASA tests different propulsion engines. We didn’t see any tests, just lots of forests and swamps. We kayaked up the river and into a bayou where I saw a baby alligator.

There weren’t any good landing spots so we paddled out of the bayou and back up the river. We finally came to a place where we could get out and collect caterpillars. Along with some caterpillars we found a number of tree frogs just hanging out on Saw Palmetto plants. Today we went back to Honey Island Swamp and sampled 4 plots. In the last plot I found a Saddleback caterpillar. I was so excited!!! Tomorrow we head back to New Orleans and we will work in the lab tomorrow and Tuesday.

Monarch butterflies are migratory. They are flying south for the winter right now. Journey North is an organization that tracks the monarchs' migration. We can help track them on their way to Mexico. Go to http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/sl/8/0.html to view a slideshow on how to identify monarch butterflies.

More Collecting and Zoo

Today I went hunting for caterpillars in the morning. On the way to the site we saw a gray fox. We didn't find any exciting caterpillars, but we found a lot of them. In the afternoon I stayed back in the bunkhouse and did "Zoo." Again, this is when we identify, catalogue and photograph the caterpillars.
Since its Friday, there are no questions for today. Instead I thought I would answer some questions from this past week.

• Some of the types of trees that we have found here at Pearl River are water oak, sweet gum, cow oak, silver bush, american holly, parsley hawthorn, and hornbeam.


• Caterpillars have the characteristics of insects. they have 3 body parts; head, thorax and abdomen. They have three sets of true legs. These are the legs they will have as adults. Caterpillars have a substance known as hemolymph that functions like our blood. However it doesn't have cells to carry oxygen the way our blood does.


• Spiracles are openings that let oxygen into the caterpillar, so they function to help the caterpillar breathe.
  
• Caterpillars are invertebrates and so do not have a skeleton like ours.


• Only one type of caterpillar is known to make noises to communicate and that is thought to be for defense. Tent caterpillars that live communally in their tents communicate where food can be found by laying down a scent trail as they leave the tent. If they find food, then they make the trail scent stronger on the way back. This helps them all to survive by making it easier for all of them to find food.

More pictures and videos

Today we spent in the lab at Tulane video-conferencing so we didn't get out into the field to find any more caterpillars. I don't have any questions for today, but be sure to answer yesterday's questions. here are some more pictures and videos!

Caterpillar Behavior

This morning I went kayaking up the Pearl River and into a bayou. No alligators this time, but we did see a white egret fly off a Cyprus tree. We spent the rest of the morning with “ZOO.” This is when we identify, photograph and take care of the caterpillars. We saw some very interesting behaviors. One caterpillar, the Dotted Gray, stretched itself out to look like a stick. Another caterpillar, a Notodontidae, raised both its head and hind parts up in the air. 1. Why do you think they do these things?
After lunch, we went back to Honey Island Swamp and surveyed a different plot. We found lots of very cool caterpillars. One was an Arcturidae and we named it Polar Bear. I’m pretty sure there’s a picture of it in The Caterpillars of Louisiana binder in the classroom. One of the ways that we collect the caterpillars is by using a “Beat sheet.” This is a canvas square that we hold under a tree or bush while we hit the plant with a bamboo stick. We then check the beat sheet to see what has fallen out. Some caterpillars try to get off the beat sheet and head for the ground. 2. Why do you think they do this?
Monarch caterpillars eat milkweed plants that contain a chemical that makes them taste really bad to birds. In fact it makes any bird that tries to eat one vomit. The one caterpillar or butterfly that gets eaten dies, but the bird will not try to eat another. 3. How does this help monarch butterflies to survive?
Viceroys are not poisonous to birds but look very similar to monarchs. 4. How does this help viceroy butterflies to survive?

Caterpillars and butterflies have many behaviors that help them to survive. Pick another animals and describe a behavior that they use to survive.

Honey island Swamp and Gators!!

We woke up bright and early at 5:45 AM when the station biologist came in to get coffee. The bunkhouse that we are staying in is actually his office. Over breakfast Rebecca Hazen, our field team leader, told us all about the types of caterpillars we were going to find and how to recognize them. We learned quite a bit about their anatomy. Caterpillars are a type of insect and have the basic anatomy of an insect. Then we drove to Honey Island Swamp to begin collecting. The first thing we saw were lots!! of very large spiders on the side of the road. Their webs were beautiful. The next thing we say was an alligator in the water by a bridge. We all stopped and had a photo shoot. Hunting for the caterpillars was hard. They are not as easy to find as spiders, butterflies and lizards. I found a couple of anoles like the kind that are in Mr. Lehman’s room. We also found a very cool walking stick. After hunting along the side of the road, we went into the bottomland hardwood forest using a machete to cut the underbrush. We tied orange tape around a large water oak and created an X with each arm being 5 m. We used that to create a sample area with a diameter of 10m. We then collected every caterpillar we could find in that area. We put them into Ziploc bags with lots of leaves from their host plant. Then we had to determine the types of plants were in the area, how many leaves they had and what percentage of leaves had been chewed by caterpillars. It was very hot and tiring work and we ended up not finishing until after 3:00 PM. We then came back to the bunkhouse for lunch.
To answer one question from last week: The question was:”What is the difference between prologs and true legs?” True legs have muscles attached to them and are the legs that will become the legs of the moth or butterfly. Prolegs, don’t have any muscles and stay stiff by hydrostatic pressure. The caterpillar’s body pumps fluid into the legs to keep them hard like the true legs.
To answer one question from Monday: The question was: “Are certain trees poisonous to caterpillars?” The answer is yes! Some caterpillars can only eat the leaves of one type of tree and any others would be poisonous to it. Other caterpillars can eat many different types of trees or other plants.

Look at the new pictures for Monday. I finally got them to upload!

Now here are some questions from our morning anatomy lesson for you to answer. When you answer them please use correct spelling, not IM language.
1. What are the basic characteristics of insects and how do caterpillars show them?
2. Caterpillars have spiracles along their sides. What are they?
3. Do caterpillars have blood like us? Explain
4. Do caterpillars have skeletons like us? Explain

Pearl River Here We Come

Today I went to the French Quarter of New Orleans with three other teachers in the morning. We walked along the Mississippi river and saw a steamboat that is used for tours. After lunch Dr. Dyer told us all about the research project. Then, we headed out to the Pearl River WMA. We are truly in a Louisiana Bayou.
Yesterday I asked about the types of trees in New Orleans. Today, see if you can find the types of trees that are found in a bayou. Where does the word bayou come from?