Life Can Be Tough in a Ziploc

I was so excited to web conference with the campers this morning! What great questions and comments! I look forward to our next meeting. Here are the answers to yesterday’s challenge questions. I couldn’t believe how many of you answered perfectly! I think Challenge Question #3 stumped most people!

Challenge #1: The brown and white dots on the leaf are called frass. Or poop! Caterpillars are constantly eating and trust me…constantly using the bathroom! (They even went on my computer while I was talking to you guys!)

Challenge #2: The yellow caterpillar is commonly known as the definite tussock moth. The Definite-marked Tussock Moth, Orgyia definita, has a common name almost as long as the caterpillar. Orgyia definite refers to the species name. Some refer to the species as the Yellow-headed Tussock, which is a more descriptive name for the larva. In fact, it's more than the caterpillar's head that is yellow - its tufts of toothbrush-like hairs are a striking yellow as well. This caterpillar has already starting pupating, or forming a chrysalis, to transition from a caterpillar into a moth!

Challenge #3: The forest tent caterpillars, which are aggregated together on the trunk, oscillated when they were alarmed. Just like a herd of buffalo, the caterpillars cluster and move together to fend off predators. They want to try and look like one big (scary) creature, so banding together is merely a defense mechanism.

This morning, after our web conference, I began cleaning and checking all the samples we collected yesterday in our “caterpillar zoo,” which we will inspect on a daily basis to see what happens to the caterpillars over time.

The healthy ones will go through metamorphosis and become moths or butterflies, but some of them are unhealthy – they’re infected with parasitoids. These parasitoids are wasps or flies that lay their eggs on a caterpillar, and when the eggs hatch, the larvae (baby wasps or flies) eat the caterpillar. So we’ll see those in our caterpillar zoo as well.

Challenge #1: What is the difference between a parasite and a parasitoid?

I also went out in a kayak up the Pearl River to access a more remote area of the forest to gather samples. Dr. Lee Dyer, who heads this study joined us for this exciting adventure. Lee lives in Reno now and came down just for the day to help us understand more about caterpillars and climate change. It was just gorgeous out on the river and boy was there a strong current! It was hard at times to get around the trees in the water and once I got stuck really close to a huge wasps nest. Luckily, Lisa saved me!

One thing that I noticed as we were floating down the river is that the trees seem to survive, despite lots of flooding, hurricanes, and heavy currents. I noticed that this Tupelo tree was hollow on the inside and much larger on the bottom than on the top. Apparently, trees in swamps don't have deep roots, but they do have a large, broad base. The roots have to spread really far to stablize the tree when the wind blows or the current is strong.

I saw so many cool animals and wildlife on the river and I will continue to keep a look out for alligators and wild hogs. Apparently, a hog charged one of the wildlife rangers last week! Yikes! I took this picture today on the river.

Challenge #2: Can you identify "Waldo" in this picture? What is it?
Challenge #3: My last challenge is for you to identify the little caterpillar friend that we found today. Do you think those are really the eyes? (Remember to use the sites from yesterday's posting)

Next time we web conference, I will try to have some new organisms (living things) to show you!
Please write these vocabulary words in your journal: frass, pupate, larvae, chrysalis, parasitoid, oscillation, aggregate. As you learn what they mean, write the definition down too.

Good luck with the challenges! Please send me any of your questions and I can try to answer them myself or have one of the scientists answer them. (Remember, there are no bad questions!)

I hope you enjoy the rest of the pictures from today...and my new "Ms. Coleman, the Caterpillar Hunter" video. (World famous)

Stink Bugs, Copperhead, and Eastern River Cooter Turtles
Click to enlarge.

Green Tree Frog

Crazy Caterpillar Hunter