Socialization

One of my friends asked me if butterflies/caterpillars socialize. It was really hard to find an answer but I found some information about how butterflies migrate and communicate. A group of butterflies can be called a lek, swarm, or a rabble. When butterflies migrate, they often travel in large groups or swarms to a different part of the country or world that has a more suitable climate for their needs. As for communication, butterflies use a wide variety of means to pass messages between other members of their species. Color, chemicals, sounds, and physical actions can all convey meaning to another butterfly. Males may have bright or unique patterns to attract members of the opposite gender. Chemical pheromones also help mates find each other and signal courtship availability. Territorial postures or clicking sounds are used to defend a certain area or ward off another male. (http://www.amazingbutterflies.com/frequentlyaskedquestions.htm)

Below is an amazing image of a swarm of monarch butterflies.

http://arkansasagnews.uark.edu/609.htm

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_group_of_butterflies_called

So Big!

My caterpillar is very furry-looking, even though he technically does not have any fur. He has little spikes all over, and is a blue-grey color with white spots. As for his length, he is continually getting bigger and fatter and is about an inch and a half. He moves around a lot and his food supply is quickly diminishing. If he doesn't turn into a chrysalis soon then I will have to obtain more food from my professor.

The Name

Heraldo--a fancy form of Harold. Harold means "army commander"
Where I got the name: My suitemates. We're calling him "Harry" for short. At the rate he's growing, this name seems pretty fitting. Already, just a few days of observing him and he has nearly tripled in size. He's getting pretty scary looking.
He is beginning to move around a lot more, and has even gotten a little furry.

Spikey Heraldo

Alright, so maybe Heraldo is not covered in spikes. The technical term for the pokey little hairs all over his body is bristles. These bristles actually serve as a type of camouflage for the caterpillar as it reduces the amount of light that reflects off of him. As a result, he is less noticeable to any prey such as birds or other animals. The bristles also deter birds from trying to eat him as it is difficult to swallow such a spikey little creature. Heraldo has been growing these bristles in the past few days and they help make him look bigger. He is about an inch long currently.

Gender

Is it possible to tell if my caterpillar is a boy or a girl? I did some research and found that basically the only way to tell is dissect him and look for certain parts. Other ways would be to put it in alcohol and observe it through the transparent skin. Unfortunately, both of those methods would kill my little caterpillar and I need him to stay alive until he flies for my project. The site I looked at mentions that male caterpillars are typically more colorful and brighter, while females are larger in size. Perhaps when he flies I will be able to compare him to others and guess if he is male or female. 

Here's a reference in case you want to dissect your caterpillar. There are step by step instructions for determining the gender. http://www.ehow.com/how_5911369_determine-caterpillar-male-female_.html 

Crawling around

As my caterpillar is getting bigger, he seems to move around a little more. Most of the time he just sits in one spot eating, but today he seemed especially active. One of the things I have noticed about his legs is that there are gaps between sections of legs. There are three groups of legs--the front set of six legs look more like feelers, the next two sets of legs (eight and two legs, respectively) seem to be more solid and leg like. It almost seems like he has some sort of suction cups on them as he is able to cling to the sides of the cup or even on the top of the cup. I wanted to learn how he can cling to the walls or basically any surface it seems.
According to the book A Life Cycle of Butterflies, the front legs are considered to be "true legs" while the majority of the back legs are called "prolegs". These prolegs have "rings of microscopic bristles shaped like crochet hooks" (NSRC, p. 28). These act like suction cups and help the caterpillar cling to any surface. This can all be illustrated in the following diagram:

Vanessa Cardui

Since I will be in charge of keeping Heraldo alive for as long as possibly--preferably until he flies--I figured I should probably do some basic research on this species of butterfly and see if I need to do anything special for it. Below is some general information I have discovered about what he will eventually looks like, his diet, common habitat in the wild, as well as the stages of life he will go through.

Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2012. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed a http://animaldiversity.org.

Overall, this species of butterfly seems to be very hardy and versatile. It can be found almost anywhere in the world besides South America, the Arctic or Australia. It also feeds on hundreds of different plants, specifically thistles and hollyhocks. In fact, it likes thistles so much that it has earned the name "Thistle Butterfly" after its food source. Since I will be raising him indoors, the caterpillar is currently eating a food paste provided by the company we bought the caterpillars from. When he turns into a butterfly, I will provide oranges or other nectar-like fruit for him to feed on.
Based on information from about.com, I found the following outline of this species' life-cycle:

 Egg - Mint green, barrel-shaped eggs are laid singly on the leaves of host plants, and             hatch in 3-5 days. Larva - The caterpillar has five instars over 12-18 days. Pupa - The chrysalis stage lasts about 10 days.Adult - Butterflies live for just two weeks. (Painted Lady Butterfly) 

I am excited to see him go through the stages. For the next week or so, he will be growing rapidly!

Intro to the Caterpillar Stage

After hatching from an egg, a butterfly begins the caterpillar stage. During this time, it grows rapidly and will shed its skin four or more times. I have not yet seen my caterpillar's shed skin, but it is already bigger today than it was yesterday. I have also observed some of my friends' caterpillars, and theirs are all at different stages of growth. Mine seems fairly average when compared to the others. Much of my caterpillar's time is spent feeding  on the bottom of the small carton I have have him in.
My particular species of caterpillar is the Vanessa Cardui, also known as the Painted Lady Butterfly. According to online information about this species of butterfly, it will probably be in the caterpillar stage for 12-18 days. (http://insects.about.com/od/butterfliesmoths/p/Vcardui.htm)

How it all begins...

Today I picked up my little creature after receiving an email from my teacher. I had heard about this project from previous classes, but nothing prepared me for the excitement of having my own little caterpillar to raise. There was also great nervousness as I knew my grade depended on this little guy's survival.
When I arrived at my Professor's office, I found a little jar filled with tiny little larva. There was a second jar full of a funky-looking peanut butter substance, aka, caterpillar food. After reading over the instructions about 5 times, my friend Kelsi and I began the process of getting our caterpillars.
Step 1: Make sure all utensils and hands are clean
Step 2: Take a small little plastic container
Step 3: Fill up the container with about a 1/4inch of food. Pack this down using the bottom of another container.
Step 4: Take a paintbrush and choose a caterpillar. Put the caterpillar into the container.
Step 5: Keep it alive somehow.

So far, the biggest challenge has been finding a safe place for the little guy. He's supposed to stay out of direct sunlight, extreme heat or cold (which is difficult in my room), plus remain as undisturbed as possible. I think his first day has been kind of traumatic. He has already suffered a 3ft drop, a 5 minute walk outside in 10 degree weather, and endured much excitement as I introduced him to all my friends. Currently, he hasn't moved for the past hour or so. Hopefully he is not dead!