I’m quite happy with the education my kindergartener is receiving at his childcare center. He is only 5, but is already familiar with terms like larva and pupa. He motivated me to show him these pictures of a caterpillar whose fascinating action I had the good fortune to observe when I was teaching Science at the primary school.
- There is no beginning or final stage in a cycle, so none of the stages should be identified as being “first” or “last”
- When naming the stages in a life cycle, use general words like egg, larva, pupa, adult, nymph, young, seed, seedling or adult plant
- Insects that undergo metamorphosis have a four-stage life cycle
- The adult and young do not need to compete for the same food source. Thus, the adult and young will still survive if one food source is unavailable.
- When unfavourable circumstances such as the lack of food, water or pollution affect the land or water, either the young or the adult will continue to survive. This increases the animal’s chances to reproduce and continue its own kind.
- The adult butterfly lays its eggs on plants because the young feed on fresh leaves. They will have a good source in their surroundings when they hatch.
- The young red leaves of the Red Mempat contain anthocyanin, a chemical that deters hungry caterpillars
- When more pesticides are used, more caterpillars that are destroying the vegetables are killed, resulting in more vegetables being harvested.
- When more pesticides are used, more butterflies that help in the pollination of flowering plants are killed. Less flowers will be pollinated and thus, the plants produce less fruits for harvest.
- Caterpillars are considered as pests to vegetable farmers because they will eat up the vegetables grown by the farmer and the farmer makes a living by selling the vegetables
- In French, a butterfly is called a papillon. It has no mouth. It eats through a proboscis, which is a long tube that is much like a straw
- Butterflies have taste receptors on their feet so that when they stand on a leaf, they can tell if their caterpillars would be able to eat it