Mantis Monday

Thanks Michael, for bringing in the beautiful praying mantis. They are quite active and visible this time of year as they are getting ready to lay eggs, and the foliage where they hide is starting to die back for the winter.

An extra credit opportunity: using the visible markings on the meter stick, how long is the mantis from head to bottom end, ignoring antennae and legs? Click on the word comments below and leave your estimate.

HOMEWORK

SCIENCE 8 Homework due tomorrow 9/16 - DENSITY DRILL worksheet

Quiz Friday on Density!

SCIENCE 6 Homework due tomorrow 9/16 - SCIENTIFIC METHOD worksheet

Quiz Friday on Scientific Method!

Metamorphosis - Part A

One of the most frequently asked questions is how did a yellow, black, and white striped caterpillar turn into the green with gold flecked chrysalis? I spent the better part of this morning capturing the metamorphic process on video.

When I saw a caterpillar hanging in the shape of a "J", I knew things were about to change.

Here is what happened:

Caterpillar Club

It's getting crowded in the caterpillar jar(s) since I'm caring for 8 individuals. Seven are still caterpillars and one formed a chrysallis this morning. Here are five I managed to wrangle into one shot. The smallest one has increased its size by a factor of 10 over the past 5 days.

The dark splotch near the one on the far right is a shed skin. They wriggle out of their skin 5 times as they grow. Each stage is called an instar. The little one is instar 1 or 2, and the larger one is probably instar 3.

The caterpillars are growing! They eat only milkweed leaves so I have to find new leaves each day when I clean out their jar. As long as they are eating, they are also dropping frass (poop). Raising caterpillars is interesting, but you have to be responsible and keep them clean and fed. Easy when they are small, but as they grow, so do their needs.

Classroom guests

It's almost back to school time! I like to start the year with something interesting to study, so I've searched my yard for some of my favorite subjects: monarch butterfly caterpillars. I found two tiny caterpillars and one egg. The tiny one just hatched from its egg a few hours ago, the other one a couple of days ago. The dime is in the picture so you can judge their size by a familiar object.

I'll keep adding photos as they grow and eat. I think they'll be very large by the time Sept 7th comes.

English birds

Even on vacation I can't resist taking photos of birds. I met this cheeky Chaffinch in the north of England at an old Roman fort ruin being excavated. I stopped to eat a snack at a picnic table, and before I even opened it, this little bird approached me looking for a handout.

The next adventure:

http://www.earthwatch.org/exped/bidwell.html

Garden Discovery

Today I noticed my large tomato plant was missing many leaves. When I took a closer look I spotted the largest frass (caterpillar poo) I've ever seen. It took a couple of minutes before I spotted these two very large tomato hornworms.

Scientific name:

Manduca quinquemaculata

After they pupate in a few days, they will later emerge as 5 spotted hawk moths, also known as hummingbird moths, because they sort of look like a hummingbird, and sip nectar like one too. I have spotted an adult over the past weeks at my bee balm, so I guess these are her babies.

In The Garden

This swallowtail butterfly looks like it just emerged; it's colors were bright and no wing damage. It seems to like the yellow baptisia flowers.

I spent some time in the garden today and saw this moth that I have never seen before. It's scientific name:

Alypia octomaculata

or the eight spotted forester moth. I like it's orange leg tufts.

Birds Of A Different Feather

Scientist at Work

Hannah J. put her science skills to work this week. She came to class with a caterpillar she found out on the track. Within the space of 30 minutes she had identified it, and discovered what it eats, its range and other information about it. It's scientific name is Noctua pronuba, also known as the winter cutworm and, once it pupates, emerges as a yellow underwing moth.

Good work Hannah and Kevin!

Latest news from science class

This little tree frog likes to sit in the vent pipe that leads to the courtyard - I'm guessing it's a warm spot on these chilly spring nights. Every once in a while we pull it out for a quick photo opportunity. Then back to the vent - we practice catch and release.

The second picture is a fully molted goldfinch. They are still regular visitors to the feeders, at least as long as the niger thistle seed hold out.

Parasitoid Invasion!

A few weeks ago Ms. Wemette brought in a large pupating moth for us to investigate. We were eagerly awaiting the emergence to see what kind of moth it was when I noticed a multitude of football shaped objects appeared overnight. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the little 'footballs' were pupating fly larvae which had invaded the moth as eggs, hatched, and consumed the pupating moth. The fly larvae then emerged from the moth pupa (note the hole) and pupated themselves. What a grisly story!

This is exactly the kind of interaction I studied last year on my Earthwatch expedition to New Orleans to study caterpillars and the parasitoids that occupy them! Now we are awaiting the emergence of the adult flies to see what species they are. My guess - tachinid flies. I'll keep you posted.

A bird rescue!

Tuesday's class proved quite exciting. Sarah noticed that something hit the window. When I went into the courtyard to investigate, this tiny goldfinch lay dazed and immobile on the ground. I picked it up, gave it some encouragement, and sent it on its way. But not before our photographers documented the event. Nice work Elizabeth and Sarah!

(Yes, we thoroughly washed our hands.)