This week, seventh graders from Heritage E-STEM Middle School explored plants on the east end of Dodge Nature Center's Lilly Prairie. We'll be using this site all year to learn about ecosystems and to restore this property by collecting seed and growing plants to return to the prairie next spring. While we were focusing on the plants this week, we also took time to see what wildlife was present. On one kind of plant, we spotted these caterpillars.
There were several of these caterpillars on each plant. Nearby leaves showed evidence of having been eaten, but we weren't sure if the caterpillars were the insects responsible for the leaf damage. Webbing stretched from leaf to leaf, not as a dense mat, but as individual strands.
I've been researching what kind of caterpillars these may be, but so far no luck. It may be some kind of fall webworm, but I'm not sure. The 7th graders took several of the caterpillars and leaves from the plants back to school. I'm curious about what they'll discover working with these caterpillars.
If you know what they are, let me know!
Very cool looking caterpillar. I've never seen one like that before!
ReplyDeleteHi,Sharon! (Yours is my first-ever comment -thanks!) I still don't know what kind of caterpillars these are. They are small - only about 1" long. I meet with the 7th graders again this week - maybe they will have discovered the secret identity of these caterpillars.
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