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.