(not our pic - forgot to take a pic of the caterpillar!)
A little over a week ago my almost 6yo dd found a wooly bear caterpillar crawling on our driveway. We brought it in and prepared a container for it to live in. We took a good-sized plastic Glad container and put dirt from outside and some sticks and bark into it. We did find some plantain weeds that they are supposed to eat, but never so it eat any.
In reading up on these caterpillars we found out that they are one of the few caterpillars that overwinter as caterpillars and not as cocoons. They hide under leaves and bark on the ground and hibernate until spring. Then they eat some more and then make their cocoons in spring before turning into an Isabella Tiger Moth.
A few days ago I noticed the wooly bear had gone under one of the branches and tree bark we had put in and there were some silky threads laced across above him. We could still see him there and the threads weren't a complete cocoon but we thought he was probably going to make his cocoon. Here's a pic where you can see the lacy threads just below the main branch where that orange stick is sticking out. He's too hard to see underneath.
Then we checked today and and you can see under the lacy threads the gray cocoon he's in! In reading it sounds like he should become a moth in a week or two from the time the cocoon is made. So we'll be watching to see if he becomes a moth!
We've watched many monarch caterpillars become chrysalises and turn into butterflies and we had a yellow swallowtail caterpillar that we found that made it's chrysalis and became a butterfly as well. I'll write about those another time! We've never had a cocoon before so this will exciting to watch!
Hello...
Posted by rellamom on Sat 14 Apr 2007 at 10:14 - Link
My 11 year old LOVES anything to do with God's creation.
Presently, he's caring for 8 Painted Lady butterflies he hatched from chrysalis. He got them as caterpillars...
He's waiting for some ants he bought to arrive, now.
Last summer, he collected bird nests, feathers, etc... He had a fascination with anything to do with fossils... Our basement and his room is FILLED with stuff! He's got over 20 nests, for example, and 120 fossils. It's becoming out of control! LOL
I don't suppose your youngster would like a "pen friend" to write in snail mail fashion? :-)
(not our pic - forgot to take a pic of the caterpillar!)
Our Journey Into The Country - A Faith Walk