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Enriching mathematics for all learners

A free-to-use collection of mathematics activities, lessons and problems designed to nurture curious, resourceful and confident learners of mathematics. Produced by The University of Cambridge.

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The Nrich Maths Project Cambridge,England. Mathematics resources for children,parents and teachers to enrich learning. Problems,children's solutions,interactivities,games,articles.

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Tes provides a range of primary and secondary school teaching resources including lesson plans, worksheets and student activities for all curriculum subjects.

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The Maths Factor : Homepage - make Carol Vorderman your child’s online maths tutor

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Unlock your child’s maths confidence with Carol Vorderman’s maths site for 4-11 year olds. Kids can watch her maths videos, play games practise and even make their own medals with the 30 Day Challenge!

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KS1 Maths learning resources for adults, children, parents and teachers.

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With each heartbeat, blood is sent throughout our bodies, carrying oxygen and nutrients to every cell. Every day, the approximately 10 pints (5 liters) of blood in your body travel many times through about 60,000 miles (96,560 kilometers) of blood vessels that branch and cross, linking the cells of our organs and body parts.

About the Heart and Circulatory System

The circulatory system is composed of the heart and blood vessels, including arteries, veins, and capillaries. Our bodies actually have two circulatory systems:

1. The pulmonary circulation is a short loop from the heart to the lungs and back again.

2. The systemic circulation (the system we usually think of as our circulatory system) sends blood from the heart to all the other parts of our bodies and back again.

The heart is the key organ in the circulatory system. As a hollow, muscular pump, its main job is to move blood through the body. It usually beats from 60 to 100 times per minute, but can go much faster if needed. It beats about 100,000 times a day, more than 30 million times per year, and about 2.5 billion times in a 70-year lifetime.

The heart gets messages from the body that tell it when to pump more or less blood depending on an individual's needs. When we're sleeping, it pumps just enough to provide for the lower amounts of oxygen needed by our bodies at rest. When we're exercising or frightened, the heart pumps faster to increase the delivery of oxygen.

The heart has four chambers that are enclosed by thick, muscular walls. It lies between the lungs and just to the left of the middle of the chest cavity. The bottom part of the heart is divided into two chambers: the right ventricle and the left ventricle. These pump blood out of the heart. A wall called the interventricular septum divides the ventricles.

The upper part of the heart is made up of the other two chambers of the heart: the right atrium and the left atrium. The atria receive the blood entering the heart. A wall called the interatrial septum divides the atria, which are separated from the ventricles by the atrioventricular valves. The tricuspid valve separates the right atrium from the right ventricle, and the mitral valve separates the left atrium from the left ventricle.

Two other cardiac valves separate the ventricles and the large blood vessels that carry blood leaving the heart. These are the pulmonic valve, which separates the right ventricle from the pulmonary artery leading to the lungs, and the aortic valve, which separates the left ventricle from the aorta, the body's largest blood vessel.

Arteries carry blood away from the heart. They are the thickest blood vessels, with muscular walls that contract to keep the blood moving away from the heart and through the body. In the systemic circulation, oxygen-rich blood is pumped from the heart into the aorta. This huge artery curves up and back from the left ventricle, then heads down in front of the spinal column into the abdomen. Two coronary arteries branch off at the beginning of the aorta and divide into a network of smaller arteries that provide oxygen and nourishment to the muscles of the heart.

Unlike the aorta, the body's other main artery, the pulmonary artery, carries oxygen-poor blood. From the right ventricle, the pulmonary artery divides into right and left branches, on the way to the lungs where blood picks up oxygen.

As they get farther from the heart, the arteries branch out into arterioles, which are smaller and less elastic.

Veins carry blood back to the heart. They're not as muscular as arteries, but they contain valves that prevent blood from flowing backward. Veins have the same three layers that arteries do, but are thinner and less flexible. The two largest veins are the superior and inferior vena cavae. The terms superior and inferior don't mean that one vein is better than the other, but that they're located above and below the heart.

A network of tiny capillaries connects the arteries and veins. Though tiny, the capillaries are one of the most important parts of the circulatory system because it's through them that nutrients and oxygen are delivered to the cells. Waste products such as carbon dioxide are also removed by the capillaries.

What the Heart and Circulatory System Do

The circulatory system works closely with other systems in our bodies. It supplies oxygen and nutrients to our bodies by working with the respiratory system. At the same time, the circulatory system helps carry waste and carbon dioxide out of the body.

Hormones - produced by the endocrine system - are also transported through the blood in the circulatory system. As the body's chemical messengers, hormones transfer information and instructions from one set of cells to another. For example, one of the hormones produced by the heart helps control the kidneys' release of salt from the body.

One complete heartbeat makes up a cardiac cycle, which consists of two phases:

1. In the first phase, the ventricles contract (this is called systole), sending blood into the pulmonary and systemic circulation. To prevent the flow of blood backward into the atria during systole, the atrioventricular valves close, creating the first sound (the lub). When the ventricles finish contracting, the aortic and pulmonary valves close to prevent blood from flowing back into the ventricles. This is what creates the second sound (the dub).

2. Then the ventricles relax (this is called diastole) and fill with blood from the atria, which makes up the second phase of the cardiac cycle.

A unique electrical conduction system in the heart causes it to beat in its regular rhythm. The sinus (or sinoatrial) node, a small area of tissue in the wall of the right atrium, sends out an electrical signal to start the contracting of the heart muscle. This node is called the pacemaker of the heart because it sets the rate of the heartbeat and causes the rest of the heart to contract in its rhythm.

These electrical impulses cause the atria to contract first, and then travel down to the atrioventricular or AV node, which acts as a kind of relay station. From here the electrical signal travels through the right and left ventricles, causing them to contract and forcing blood out into the major arteries.

In the systemic circulation, blood travels out of the left ventricle, to the aorta, to every organ and tissue in the body, and then back to the right atrium. The arteries, capillaries, and veins of the systemic circulatory system are the channels through which this long journey takes place.

Once in the arteries, blood flows to smaller arterioles and then to capillaries. While in the capillaries, the bloodstream delivers oxygen and nutrients to the body's cells and picks up waste materials. Blood then goes back through the capillaries into venules, and then to larger veins until it reaches the vena cavae.

Blood from the head and arms returns to the heart through the superior vena cava, and blood from the lower parts of the body returns through the inferior vena cava. Both vena cavae deliver this oxygen-depleted blood into the right atrium. From here the blood exits to fill the right ventricle, ready to be pumped into the pulmonary circulation for more oxygen.

In the pulmonary circulation, blood low in oxygen but high in carbon dioxide is pumped out the right ventricle into the pulmonary artery, which branches off in two directions. The right branch goes to the right lung, and vice versa.

In the lungs, the branches divide further into capillaries. Blood flows more slowly through these tiny vessels, allowing time for gases to be exchanged between the capillary walls and the millions of alveoli, the tiny air sacs in the lungs.

During the process called oxygenation, oxygen is taken up by the bloodstream. Oxygen locks onto a molecule called

hemoglobin in the red blood cells. The newly oxygenated blood leaves the lungs through the pulmonary veins and heads back to the heart. It enters the heart in the left atrium, then fills the left ventricle so it can be pumped into the systemic circulation.

What Problems Can Happen With the Heart and Circulatory System?

Problems with the cardiovascular system are common - more than 64 million Americans have some type of cardiac problem. But cardiovascular problems don't just affect older people - many heart and circulatory system problems affect children and teens too.

Heart and circulatory problems are grouped into two categories: congenital (problems someone is born with) and acquired (problems developed some time after birth).

To help keep the heart healthy and avoid long-term problems, adults and kids should:

Get plenty of exercise.

Eat a nutritious diet.

Reach and keep a healthy weight.

Have regular medical checkups.

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With each heartbeat, blood is sent throughout our bodies, carrying oxygen and nutrients to every cell. Every day, the approximately 10 pints (5 liters) of blood in your body travel many times through about 60,000 miles (96,560 kilometers) of blood vessels that branch and cross, linking the cells of our organs and body parts.

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•	What is an ecosystem? - BBC Teach•	https://owlcation.com/stem/Learning-about-ecosystems•	Exploring Vertebrate Classification | National Geographic Society•	Deep ocean ecosystem primary resource | National Geographic Kids (natgeokids.com)

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•	What is an ecosystem? - BBC Teach•	https://owlcation.com/stem/Learning-about-ecosystems•	Exploring Vertebrate Classification | National Geographic Society•	Deep ocean ecosystem primary resource | National Geographic Kids (natgeokids.com)

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Most materials are not , but some are. A magnetic material can be magnetised or will be attracted to a magnet. These metals are magnetic:

Steel is mostly iron, so steel is magnetic too.

A bar magnet is a . This means that its magnetism is there all the time and cannot be turned on or off. A bar magnet has two magnetic poles:

Attract and repel

if you bring a north pole and a south pole together, they attract and the magnets stick together

if you bring two north poles together, or two south poles together, they repel and the magnets push each other away

We say that opposite poles attract, and like poles repel.

Testing for magnets

How can you test if a piece of metal is actually a magnet? Seeing if it sticks to a magnet is not a good test, because unmagnetised iron, steel, cobalt and nickel objects will also do this. So you can only show that an object is a magnet if it repels a known magnet.

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Bar magnets - Electromagnetism and magnetism - KS3 Physics Revision - BBC Bitesize

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Most materials are not , but some are. A magnetic material can be magnetised or will be attracted to a magnet. These metals are magnetic: Steel is mostly iron, so steel is magnetic too. A bar magnet is a . This means that its magnetism is there all the time and cannot be turned on or off.

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This concept cartoon focuses on temperature change in chemical reactions. Concept cartoons provide an approach to teaching, learning and assessment in science, they feature cartoon-style drawings showing different characters arguing about everyday situations. They are designed to intrigue, to provoke discussion and...

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Supporting progression for 3-16 year olds in a 21st Century Classroom What are the Reading and Writing Scales?
The CLPE Reading and Writing Scales describe the journey that children make in order to become literate. They help teachers to understand what progression looks like in reading and writing. We have designed the Scales to illustrate how schools can provide an environment that supports children's development as readers and writers and to suggest some next steps that teachers can plan in order to take children into the next phase of their development. The pedagogy underpinning the scales and the Next Steps is grounded in a coherent theory of children's language and literacy development, exemplified by the research element of this document, a review of current relevant research.
"These scales could transform English pedagogy and assessment"​
Dame Alison Peacock

"Using the CLPE Reading and Writing scales allows me to step back and consider the holistic development of the children in my class as readers and writers."
Who has developed them?
Year 3 Primary School Teacher
Why will they make a difference?
Originally developed over 30 years ago, the Scales were first published as part of the CLPE Primary Language Record (PLR). The PLR was widely used in primary schools in the late 80s and 90s; influencing language and literacy records in all parts of the UK. CLPE joined forces with English and Media Centre (EMC), National Association for Advisors in English (NAAE) and the National Association for the Teaching of English (NATE) and United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) to update the Scales for the 21st Century and to make them available free to all.

These are progression and not summative assessment scales. They are designed to support and develop teacher subject knowledge in literacy development, not to set out a linear sequence of targets that children need to reach in order to move to the next phase.
How should I use them?
By publishing the scales we are supporting teacher subject knowledge in the development of reading and writing, providing a tool that will help strengthen teacher understanding. If used correctly, this publication will enable schools to recognise and document children's very different learning styles within a common framework and to plan for varying needs of individual children.

The Scales have been developed as PDFs. Using the PDFs will support teachers who are getting to know the scales. They can be looked at as a staff group and develop teachers' understanding of the continuum of literacy learning. They are designed to be printed in A3 colour and can be downloaded from the left of the page.

The Scales have been developed as an App. The app supports teachers who need to reference part of the Reading and Writing Scales quickly - for example when observing a child. The app enables teachers to move between reading and writing or to move quickly between the scales and the next steps. It is available for £1.49 on iOS and Android.
The Reading and Writing Scales underpin all CLPE courses and professional development

"A truly fantastic free resource to support children's literacy development"
Find out more information about Power of Reading training
Find out about the Power of Reading Project

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Supporting progression for 3-16 year olds in a 21st Century Classroom What are the Reading and Writing Scales? The CLPE Reading and Writing Scales describe the journey that children make in order to become literate. They help teachers to understand what progression looks like in reading and writing.

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Many verbs need an to make sense, eg 'Ajay plays the '. Like the , the object is usually a noun or a noun phrase, eg 'the big, black grand piano'. Verbs that take objects describe some kind of action rather than a state of being.

For example:

Ajay plays the big, black grand piano.

Teagan watches television.

Some verbs do not need an object to make sense. These either:

Work alone, as in, 'Connor screamed.'

Describes a 'state' as in, 'Maire is tall.' or 'Mandip felt ill.'

If no action is transferring from the subject to the object, the word is called a complement .

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Subject, object and complement - Grammar - GCSE English Language Revision - BBC Bitesize

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Many verbs need an to make sense, eg 'Ajay plays the '. Like the , the object is usually a noun or a noun phrase, eg 'the big, black grand piano'. Verbs that take objects describe some kind of action rather than a state of being.

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http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/

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Books For Keeps – The Children’s Book Magazine Online

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Oxford Learner's Dictionaries | Find definitions, translations, and grammar explanations at Oxford Learner's Dictionaries

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The largest and most trusted free online dictionary for learners of British and American English with definitions, pictures, example sentences, synonyms, antonyms, word origins, audio pronunciation, and more. Look up the meanings of words, abbreviations, phrases, and idioms in our free English Dictionary.

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Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations.

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Caterpillar Facts: Questions and Answers About Caterpillars - Owlcation

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Welcome to Caterpillar Q&A!

Here are answers to the most common questions people are asking about caterpillars.

Where Does the Word "Caterpillar" Come From?

According to Etymology Online, the word "caterpillar" comes from an old French word for "furry cat" -- "chatepelose." It's also possible that in the 15th century the English altered "pelose" to "pillar" to reflect the caterpillar's destructive ability -- "pillar" is a root word of "pillage," meaning to destroy.

Are Caterpillars Insects?

Yes! Caterpillars are insects. They are the immature form of a butterfly or moth. The name of this group is "Lepidoptera," which is Latin for "scaled wings," because their wings are covered with tiny scales that give them their colors. Other groups of insects include beetles, "Coleoptera," and bees, wasps, and ants, "Hymenoptera."

Caterpillars are one of the four stages of Lepidoptera development, a process known as "complete metamorphosis." The adult butterflies or moths mate and lay eggs, which hatch into larvae (caterpillars), which go into "diapause" (cocoons), during which they change into the adult butterfly or moth. Then the process is complete, and ready to begin again.

Each kind of caterpillar turns into a specific kind of butterfly or moth. Matching up the caterpillar with the adult is part of the fun of learning about these insects. For help with matching your caterpillar to the adult, have a look at my CATERPILLAR IDENTIFICATION GUIDE here on Owlcation!

What do Caterpillars Eat?

Almost all caterpillars eat the leaves of plants, and a few can eat enough to damage trees or crops. They have evolved along with their foodplants. Most foodplants don't want to be eaten, so they have chemicals in their leaves to discourage caterpillars. Often these chemicals make them useful to humans as herbs and spices -- basil, for example, or peppermint.

While a butterfly or moth will take nectar from almost any kind of flower, their caterpillars often will only eat one kind of plant. Some caterpillars do eat other insects, but very few.

How Do Caterpillars Eat?

Caterpillars have small but strong jaws that bite like pincers. They get the edge of a leaf between those jaws and just start biting. The tiny bites go into the caterpillar's gut where they're dissolved and turned into energy or fat. Eventually the waste material is ejected as poo (which look like little hand-grenades!).

Can Caterpillars Bite?

In terms of actually biting humans with their mouths, then the answer is simple: No. Their mouth parts are really tiny and designed to eat leaves. Some caterpillars will try to scare you by acting like they're about to bite -- they rear up on their hind feet and might even make a faint clicking sound, but it's all for show. Since moth caterpillars are often larger than butterfly caterpillars, they are often the ones that try to appear scary.

What Caterpillars Sting?

A few moth caterpillars do sting, but no butterfly caterpillars do. In North America, watch out for a caterpillar called "the Asp." It's about an inch long and very furry -- it almost looks like a fancy hair-do. But underneath the fur are sharp spines with a very potent venom, comparable to a wasp sting. Another one to avoid is the caterpillar of the buck moth. This species tends to hang out in groups, and their spines have a toxin that's a bit like stinging nettle. If you brush up against a group these caterpillars, you'll get welts that sting and itch for hours.

There are several other caterpillars that can sting you -- have a look at my article about stinging caterpillars.

The venomous ASP caterpillar

Venomous Buck Moth Caterpillar

Are Caterpillars Dangerous?

Only if you give them a loaded gun! Seriously, the number of caterpillars that are actually dangerous to humans is very small. The vast majority depend on camouflage and hiding to avoid dangerous animals like humans (and birds and lizards).Some have stinging spines, and we will talk about those in a bit. These species can sting you like a bee, but there are only a few that are worth worrying about.

Only moth and not butterfly cateprillars sting, and of those only one is dangerous. There is one caterpillar that actually can kill people, and does -- a few every year. The sting of this South American species, Lonomia obliqua, can cause runaway bleeding throughout the body. If it gets out of control, the victim can die in a few days.

Can Caterpillars Swim?

Actually, yes, some can. These are moth caterpillars that live in marshes and in places that have a lot of water, and sometimes flood. These species have adapted to the conditions by evolving the ability to move through the water. They don't exactly swim -- more like wriggle. But they don't drown!

Can Caterpillars Swim? This Should Answer That Question.

Are Caterpillars Worms?

No. Worms are in the phylum Annelida, which is an entirely different group -- they're not even insects. Sometimes caterpillars are called "worms," but they're very different from the earthworms that you find in the ground, or any other kind of true worm.

Caterpillar Head Anatomy (Yes, It's Upside Down)

Can Caterpillars See?

Yes, but not well. They have a lot of tiny, very simple eyes -- twelve! -- that are called "ommatidium (om·ma·tid·i·um)." They are really only useful for seeing light and dark, and some movement, to protect them from predators. If a caterpillar senses a threat, it will freeze, and sometimes drop right off the plant. They prefer to take their chances with a fall than with whatever is lurking around them.

Can Caterpillars Hear?

Like all insects, caterpillars do not have ears in the usual sense. But caterpillars do have small antennae, which sense changes in the air, including vibrations. So if you yelled at a caterpillar, it would probably react by freezing, or dropping off the plant. A few butterfly caterpillars try to mimic a snake, so you may see that behavior as well.

Can Caterpillars Turn Into Moths?

Yes, of course. Some turn into moths, and some turn into butterflies, depending on the kind of caterpillar (the "species"). But since there are many more moths than butterflies, the caterpillar that you found will most likely turn into a moth.

Adult Giant Peacock Moth

Can Caterpillars Lay Eggs?

No, and this is related to the process of metamorphosis. Caterpillars are the larval stage of an adult butterfly or moth, and only the adults mate and lay eggs, not caterpillars. Look at it this way: the caterpillar's only job is to eat and get as fat as possible and store up fat for the adult stage; the adult's only job is to stay alive long enough to mate and lay eggs so the process continues.

"The caterpillar's only job is to eat and get as fat as possible and store up fat for the adult stage; the adult's only job is to stay alive and mate."

How Do Caterpillars Move?

Most caterpillars have six legs in the front, which have tiny claws for gripping and will eventually become the six legs of the adult insect. They also have soft, grippy "prolegs" in the back, which can be quite strong, especially in big caterpillars -- try getting a big caterpillar off of its stick, and you'll see what I mean. Caterpillars use both kinds of legs together to walk around.

Caterpillars in the moth family Geometridae have only two pairs of prolegs in back. They bring these legs on the rear end up to the front, making the body into a loop, and then reach out with the front legs. They look like they're measuring, so they're called inch-worms.

How Most Caterpillars Move

How an Inchworm Moves

How Does a Caterpillars Become A Butterfly or Moth?

This is an excellent question. The process is unbelievably complicated and is the product of millions of years of evolution. Basically, at the end of its eating time, when it's full-grown, the caterpillar sheds its skin for one last time, and this new version of the caterpillar has no arms or legs -- it's basically a pod. This is called a pupa, or a chrysalis. Inside the shell of this pod, the cells rearrange themselves into the form of the butterfly or moth. Then the insect sheds its skin one final time, and out comes the adult, a butterfly or moth with wings.

How Are Caterpillars Born?

Caterpillars are one of four stages in the life of a butterfly or moth. They aren't exactly born -- they hatch out of eggs laid by the adult. The eggs are tiny and unremarkable, and the baby caterpillars are very small and defenseless. There are dozens and dozens of eggs laid by every adult, and most of the baby caterpillars are eaten by birds or ants long before they grow up.

The surviving baby caterpillars eat a lot, and grow fast. About 4 or 5 times during their life they will shed their skin as they outgrow the one they're in. Sometimes the new skin looks a lot different from the old one. When they're done eating they shed their skin again and become a pupa (also called a chrysalis); then that skin splits open and the butterfly comes out.

How Do Caterpillars Make Cocoons?

A cocoon is a protective coat or shelter that keeps the pupa inside it warm and dry, and also out of the reach of birds, ants, and parasites. But a caterpillar will only spin a cocoon if it's a moth, not a butterfly. Butterflies don't spin cocoons, and most moths pupate underground. Only some moths make cocoons.

A cocoon is made from a liquid that comes out of the caterpillar's mouth. When the liquid hits the air, it turns into a thread or fiber; this is the cateprillar's silk. There's a special organ in the caterpillar's "lip," labrum, called a spinneret. This organ spools out the silk and the caterpillar builds the cocoon around itself.

When it's time to hatch, the caterpillar produces a substance that dissolves one end of the cocoon, and the adult moth wriggles out.

When do Caterpillars Make Cocoons?

The most accurate answer to this question is, "When they're good and ready." Caterpillars make their cocoons and chrysalises ("pupate") when they have stored up enough fat for the transition into an adult butterfly or moth. Usually this takes several weeks from the time they hatch out of the egg laid by the adult. Caterpillars can make cocoons at all times of the year, but it is by far most common for them to pupate over the winter. They eat and eat while leaves are out in the summer, spin a cocoon when it gets cold in the winter, and hatch out as an adult in the spring. Then the adults mate, lay eggs, and the process repeats all over again.

Do Caterpillars Predict Winter Weather?

Nope. There's some folklore out there that says the width of the bands on the banded woolly bear, Pyrrharctia isabella, predicts the severity of the coming winter, but there's no research to back this up.

Which Caterpillars Turn Into Butterflies, and Which Caterpillars Turn Into Moths?

Most caterpillars you find will turn into a moth, not a butterfly, because there are about a hundred times more moths than butterflies out there. Caterpillars with "fur," or very large caterpillars with horns or other decorations, are almost always moth caterpillars. Butterfly caterpillars are generally smaller and slimmer than moth caterpillars, and are either smooth or have branched spines all over them.

These are only general rules, though. If you found a caterpillar and you want to know what it is, have a look at my Caterpillar Identification Guide.

When Do Caterpillars Eat?

This is a good question. Whether a moth or a butterfly species, caterpillars eat a lot -- in fact, eating is their only purpose in life, since they're the phase in the cycle of metamorphosis (change in form) that is tasked with accumulating enough fat and calories to produce a big, beautiful adult. But they don't eat all of the time. If you raise a caterpillar, you will notice that they eat at certain times of the day, and rest at other times. Many caterpillars eat at night, when the predators that want to eat them are unable to find them in the dark.

Where Do Caterpillars Live?

Caterpillars live on their food plant, and they basically never leave. They eat and rest, eat and rest, and shed their skin (molt) when the skin they're in gets too tight. Sometimes they come down to earth to prowl around for a good place to make a cocoon, and that's when most people find them.

Which Caterpillars Eat Milkweed?

There are only a few caterpillars that eat milkweed, and this is because the milkweed plant has poisonous, milky sap that it uses to protect itself from things that eat its leaves. But some insects have evolved to deal with the poison. The most famous of these is the monarch butterfly, scientific name Danaus plexippus.

The brightly striped caterpillar of the monarch butterfly eats only milkweed. Sometimes the caterpillar will chew through the main vein of a leaf so there's not as much toxic sap in the part it wants to eat -- apparently evolution is not completely through!

There is another kind of caterpillar that eats milkweed. It's a brightly colored, furry orange and black species that turns into a pretty grey moth -- the milkweed tiger moth.

Will My Caterpillar Turn Into a Monarch Butterfly?

There's only one kind of caterpillar that turns into the monarch butterfly, one of the most beautiful and recognizable of all North American insects. The caterpillar of the monarch eats only milkweed species, and the toxic sap from the milkweed is thought to make the caterpillar and butterfly taste bad to predators.

Monarch Caterpillar

Monarch Butterfly

Which Caterpillars Eat Rose Leaves?

There are a few caterpillars that eat rose, and a couple of the most common ones also sting -- unusual in the caterpillar world. One of them is the io moth, a beautiful species. The caterpillar is green with a red and white line down its side and lots of sharp branched spines. Touch these, and you'll think you've been stung by a bee! The other is known as the "stinging rose caterpillar." It's in the genus Darapsa, a group of moths that all have stinging larvae.

Why do Caterpillars Shed Their Skin?

Caterpillars, like all insects, have an exoskeleton. This means that they have no inner support; it's all supplied by a tough but flexible outer shell. When the insect eats, it grows, and the exoskeleton gets tight. In order to get bigger, the insect has to wriggle out of its old skin to reveal a new one underneath. This new skin is flexible enough to allow the caterpillar to grow larger -- until it reaches the end of the exoskeleton's flexibility, and needs to shed again. At the end of the metamorphosis process, the adult moth or butterfly emerges, and of course it too has an exoskeleton.

What Caterpillars Are Bad, and What Caterpillars Are Good?

Leaving aside the fact that judgements like "bad" and "good" don't apply to caterpillars, which are insentient beings with no moral code, it's true that there are some that are more of a pain to humans than others. Gypsy moth caterpillars, for example, eat a wide variety of trees and can occur in huge numbers, enough to destroy an entire forest. Cabbage white butterfly caterpillars are another persistent pest, on garden plants. There are very few butterfly pest species -- most of them are moths.

No caterpillars are disease vectors, or any real kind of threat to humans. In a way, they're all "good"!

Why Are Caterpillars Hairy?

Look at it this way: Every feature on a caterpillar, from color to shape to "decorations," have evolved over millions of years to help the animal survive and avoid predators. Being hairy is a common strategy among caterpillars (more commonly moth species than butterfly species) for a number of reasons. One of them is to make it hard for little parasitic wasps and flies to land on the caterpillar and lay their eggs. Another is to make the caterpillar a nasty mouth-full for birds, lizards, and other predators.

Every feature on a caterpillar, from color to shape to "decorations," have evolved over millions of years to help the animal survive and avoid predators.

Why Are Caterpillars Green?

The answer to this question goes to a basic need of almost all caterpillars: the need to not be seen by predators. Since they live on plants and eat leaves, caterpillars live in a world of green. It gives them an advantage, from an evolutionary point of view, to blend in with their surroundings. Caterpillars, then, are green because if they were bright orange or blue, predators would have no trouble finding them on their food plant.

Will Caterpillars Eat Each Other?

Surprisingly, the answer is "yes." Some species will eat each other, even though they are technically herbivores. One theory is that they have evolved to limit their own populations when resources are scarce. Eating the surplus population cuts down on competition and provides the survivors with a tasty, nutritious lunch.

One of these species is the cinnabar moth, a beautiful insect that you would never suspect is capable of eating its fellow-caterpillar. Another is the zebra swallowtail butterfly, also a beautiful species.

Will Caterpillars Eat Lettuce?

The answer here here is "yes," but only if it's a species that already eats lettuce. Both moth and butterfly caterpillars can be very picky about the leaves they eat, and very few will actually eat lettuce that you buy at the grocery store. If you found a cateprillar and want to feed it, try a handful of every plant and leaf from the vicinity where you found it. There's a chance that it will eat one of these.

Will Caterpillars Kill Plants or Trees?

Not usually. The vast majority of caterpillars stay in their trees and plants and eat a few leaves without bothering anybody. Once in a while, a few species can get out of hand and due real damage to your garden plants. If this happens, I suggest using diatomaceous earth, which is a completely natural and non-toxic way of controlling insect pests.

Will Caterpillars Eat Aphids and Other Insects?

Very few caterpillars eat aphids. The only common species is a butterfly called the harvester, a very pretty orange-and-black butterfly about an inch across. The caterpillars live on plants where there are aphids, and eat them. This is an excellent source of protein, and the caterpillars grow very quickly. Ladybugs, on the other hand, are voracious aphid-eaters.

There is a kind of moth that lives in Hawaii that has evolved to be a predator. It has sharp legs and snatches up flies and other unsuspecting insects. It's one of the more amazing caterpillars on the planet.

Sources:

The following resources were used for this guide:
www.mdpi.com/journal/insects www.omicsonline.org/scholarly/insect-entomology-journals-articles-ppts-list.php www.bugguide.com www.nature.com/articles/131082a0 www.owlcation.com/stem/caterpillar-identification-2 https://www.etymonline.com/word/caterpillar
Questions & Answers

Question: How long does it take for a caterpillar to eat a leaf?

Answer: Not long! Less than an hour.

Caterpillar01 on June 07, 2020:

Will Caterpillars try eating fake plants?

Sammy on May 01, 2020:

A lot of fun to read and I'm only 5

Jasmine on April 30, 2020:

This information is very interesting.

GreenMind Guides (author) from USA on January 14, 2020:

Hi -- you should leave it alone and keep an eye on it. It's very possible that it's still alive.

Christine Scott on January 14, 2020:

So I've had a caterpillar in its chrysalis for about six months or more. I forgot what caterpillar it was / is and it's still alive. Is there anything I can do to help it or should I leave it alone?

Rochelle Welch on September 09, 2019:

Hi. I am from Trinidad in the Caribbean and I found a very interesting guy in my back yard.

Its white around 3/4 inch thick, 3 inches long with 2 lines of dark red dots running along its segmented body (each segment has 2 dots.)

It has long dark red going to light brown almost orange hairs around 1 1/2 inch long

The head is brown with black pincers

I am hoping someone can assist me in identifying it as I would like to know if it is poisonous or dangerous in anyway aside from being a beautiful creature!

Thanks a mil :)

Ashley on August 10, 2019:

Okay so I know caterpillars don't lay eggs but the caterpillar I caught laid some yellowish looking eggs under a leaf

Meep on July 30, 2019:

Im not sute if he ia a caterpillar, but there is a strange fuzzy creature on my wall. It has flat, white sides, a brown stripe down its back, and antennae. Its about the size of a toe. Any ideas on what it is?

animalgal on July 13, 2019:

My Caterpillar has been dragging his back like it's deadweight and there seems to be a bruise on him. He also isn't eating and his skin is also loose on his body. I'm really worried.

Martha on June 29, 2019:

I found a completely white catapiller with long white hairs or fuzz all over it on my geraniums. I killed it before getting a picture! What is it? Does it sting?

Mkitt on May 11, 2019:

I have many fuzzy caterpillars on our property in the sierra nevada foothills. I wish i could post a pic. Its striped from one end to the other lengthwise with turquoise blue strips, orange stripes. The two sides have white tuffs all the way lengthwise that make a fuzzy white line on both sides. It has lighter orange tufts on both ends , head n tail. Its usually about 1 to 1.5 inches in length. Its not poisonous to touch . Anyone know what kind? Ive looked everywhere on line. Its not a gulf frittilary, its not a forest tent caterpillar although they were tge closest pics. Its more fuzzy and more colorful than either

faith on February 10, 2019:

ulgy and why

Angel Guzman from Joliet, Illinois on January 24, 2019:

Very good, detailed information about caterpillars. 12 eyes really caught my attention.

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Caterpillar Facts: Questions and Answers About Caterpillars

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Here are answers to the most common questions people are asking about caterpillars. According to Etymology Online, the word "caterpillar" comes from an old French word for "furry cat" -- "chatepelose." It's also possible that in the 15th century the English altered "pelose" to "pillar" to reflect the caterpillar's destructive ability -- "pillar" is a root word of "pillage," meaning to destroy.

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