Monday, one of the second grade teachers brought me a styrofoam cup. She tipped it toward me so I could see what was inside. She didn't know what kind of caterpillar it was, but thought maybe I could tell her.
The pictures above illustrate better than words. It was the most beautiful speciman of caterpillar I have ever seen, but I didn't know what type of caterpillar it was, either. I didn't know whether it was a butterfly or a moth larva.
In the past, teachers and students have often brought the bugs they find to my classroom. Somehow, over the years, they have heard that I like learning about bugs. I have a few insect books in my room so it's easy for me to help them identify the little crawlers. Also, I find insects most fascinating. I like reading about them, I like looking at them, and I like discovering something I've never seen in person before. A carry-over from childhood, I suppose.
The little insect book I had showed pictures of a couple of possibilities. It could be a Polyphemus moth or a Luna moth caterpillar. I was surprised because I had thought something so pretty would certainly turn into a a butterfly, which is rudely suggesting that butterflies are prettier than moths. Which isn't always true. The Luna and the Polyphemus moths are just two examples when a moth can be as pretty or prettier than a butterfly.
I asked Kathy if I could take it home with me, and she said I could. I put it in the Bug Barn before I thought too far ahead about the needs of the caterpillar. I took the little guy home last night, added some familiar leaves to the Bug Barn to make its captivity more comfortable while I searched to find out more about it on the internet. Perhaps, after the kids got to look at it and after I told them what I had found out about it, we would let it go the next day.
After I got home, I took some pictures of it just before the sun went down too far, then tucked the little critter in for the night in my garage.
Imagine my surprise the next morning when I picked up the Bug Barn and looked inside and could not find the green caterpillar anywhere, but in its place, tucked inside a curled oak leaf, lay a plump,silky, cottony pillow, a snow-white, silk-spuncocoon. It was faintly transparent... a pale green showed through its silky veil.
I couldn't wait to tell the second graders and their teacher what they had found during recess yesterday, and made an appointment to stop by their classroom at 2:00 to tell them the news and to let them all get a look at the newly spun cocoon with their caterpillar inside.
When the time came to make the presentation, they were all waiting eagerly to hear what I had. After I explained about the moth, and the cocoon, and that it would likely be in this state until spring, I called up the two girls who had found the caterpillar. I let them look first, and then took their picture holding the bug barn with the silk covered treasure inside. Then the other kids came up two or three at a time to take a look as I held a flashlight to the inside of the box.
I hope the caterpillar can last until spring in this box. However, if it is a Luna or even a Polyphemus, it may not be able to come out of the box on its own. The wide wingspan of the Luna could prevent it from making it out through the 2 1/2-inch wide doorway. I thought we'd wait and see if the cocoon frees itself from the wall of the box so we can transfer it into a proper moth house that the students will make for it. What a great educational tool to teach life cycles!
In the meantime, I'll find out more about these intriguing creatures so I can better answer the kids' questions when they ask them.
Speaking of insects, what ever became of the ant habitat and the Harvester Ants? The story is not a pleasant one. The last time I reported about them, last month I think, I may have had about 20 or so alive, but they were looking depressed, and there was noticeably less activity than during their first weeks in the blue, gel habitat. Over the weeks that followed, they began to die, one or two at a time. I have about six alive now, the discoloration has turned to black in some parts of the habitat. Obviously a mold has somehow taken over, blocking off several of the tunnels. I check them every day, and I don't know what to do for them except let them die off as nature would have it. But I'm pretty sure that nature wouldn't have trapped them in a moldy nest like this... in nature they would have been able to flee the tunnels and perhaps build a new nest.
I probably won't do the space gel habitat again unless I can find out what happened. I don't want this to happen again.
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