"About us on every side are myriads of tiny creatures that commonly pass unnoticed, and even when we observe them, we usually think them unworthy of serious consideration. But all life is linked together in such a way that no part of the chain is unimportant... The abundance of insects makes it easy to study them. They can be found where-ever man can live, and at all seasons."
~ Anna Botsford Comstock
We've been lacking in our nature studies so far this school year, but on Sunday a little impromptu nature study showed up as I was pruning my roses. I found this weird insect on a leaf...
We poked and prodded it, looked at it with a magnifying glass, took pictures of it, and Kathryn decided to put in her "bug catcher" so we could see what it was doing later. Here she and Lindsey are having a good look.
Ken looked up our strange critter on What's That Bug, and identified it as a tussock moth caterpillar, called that because of the tufts -- or tussocks -- of irritating hairs on it's body. Ours is a mature caterpillar that will soon weave a cocoon. After emerging from her cocoon, the wingless, fat, and hairy female moth waits for a male to fly to her. Once they've mated, the female will lays eggs on the cocoon, and then her life cycle is done. We all decided we're happy not to be tussock moths!
I'm hoping this little study will jump-start us into MORE nature studies!
I'm hoping this little study will jump-start us into MORE nature studies!
