Mel Boring > Quotes

“What It Looks Like
If you spot the spectacular luna moth, don't try to catch it. It is an endangered species.
The luna moth has very long tails. Its color is a glowing green, but it also has touches of purple, brown, yellow, white and gray. From wingtip to wingtip, it is a little shorter than your hand length. You may see it just beneath a streetlight, waggling its wings, as if dancing. When its long, dangling tails sway in the breeze, it looks like a little lunar-green”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“Luna moths have no mouths or stomachs. They do not eat, and only live about one week.
Where to Find It
As soon as the female comes out of the cocoon in April or June, she searches for a tree with leaves her offspring can eat. Many different trees could be food for her caterpillars. So you may find her on walnut, hickory, oak, birch, alder, sweet gum or persimmon trees.”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“Some people say the woollybear can forecast the weather. The more black it has, legend says, the colder the winter will be. But scientists say it grows less black as it gets older. So a woollybear with more black is really just a younger caterpillar.”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“black and yellow”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“licorice to you. But to birds and other enemies, they are colors of DANGER, telling”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“scrapbook to”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“tablespoons sugar”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“south”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“The pupa stage is a short "rest stop" before it becomes an adult.”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“The changing they do is easiest to see when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. That is a”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“while it is a pupa. When a butterfly caterpillar sheds its last skin, its inner skin hardens into a chrysalis. A moth caterpillar doesn't make a chrysalis. It makes a cocoon. First, it hooks a silk strand to the top”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“hornworms”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“that crawls out of its egg”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“trees-even pine tree needles. Every seven to ten years, from May to mid July, there is an outbreak of gypsy caterpillars in the Northeast, where most of them live. In their last big outbreak, they gobbled the leaves off 13 million acres of trees and shrubs.
Where to Find It
Look for gypsy moth caterpillars on the ground during the day. They eat in trees all night, but by day, they drop down into litter around the tree.”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“In fall you will see it crawling out of gardens, over lawns, even across highways. In spring, the woollybear caterpillar spins its cocoon out of its body hair and silk. It becomes the Isabella moth, a member of the tiger moth family. So, the "bear" turns into a "tiger.”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“enemies on the bottoms of leaves. That's where”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“female”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“for the tiger swallowtail caterpillar on a wide variety of trees and”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“As soon as the female comes out of the cocoon in April or June, she searches for a tree with leaves her offspring can eat. Many different trees could be food for her caterpillars. So you may find her on walnut, hickory, oak, birch, alder, sweet gum or persimmon trees.”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“Looks Like
This plump green caterpillar has two large black and yellow "eyes" staring out of its bulging head. They are not eyes that see, but "eyespots.”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“squeeze”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“pupa stage is a short "rest stop" before it becomes an adult. Pupas don't eat, they just rest. Maybe they're saving up energy to fly.
The complete change from larva to adult happens while it is a pupa. When a butterfly caterpillar sheds its last skin, its inner skin hardens into a chrysalis. A moth caterpillar doesn't make a chrysalis. It makes a cocoon. First, it hooks a silk strand to the top of twig. Next, it fastens that same thread to the bottom of the twig. Then it hangs head-down and spins threads across for the rest of the cocoon.
Find a chrysalis or cocoon and watch the new butterfly or moth emerge!
What It Looks Like”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“soon as the female comes out of the cocoon in April or June, she searches for a tree with leaves her offspring can eat. Many different trees could be food for her caterpillars. So you may find her on walnut, hickory, oak, birch,”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“wings, as if dancing. When its long, dangling”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“Moths have antennae that look like miniature feathers. They work like radio aerials, picking up far-away signals. So they can scent "moth sugar" from miles away. Wait until late afternoon to spread "moth sugar," so the sun will cook but not evaporate it”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“butterflies”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“hornworm's rear "horn" looks frightening. This caterpillar rears its head back as if”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“it grows. When a larva pops out of its last skin, it becomes a pupa.
The pupa stage is a short "rest stop" before it becomes an adult. Pupas don't eat, they just rest. Maybe they're saving up energy to fly.
The complete change from larva to adult happens while it is a pupa. When a butterfly caterpillar sheds its last skin, its inner skin hardens into a chrysalis. A moth caterpillar doesn't make a chrysalis. It makes a cocoon. First, it hooks a silk strand to the top of twig. Next, it fastens that same thread to the bottom of the twig. Then it hangs head-down and spins threads across for the rest of the cocoon.
Find a chrysalis or cocoon and watch the new butterfly or moth emerge!
What It Looks Like
The cabbage caterpillar is green or tan. Its skinny body grows no longer than your thumb. It looks like a tiny cucumber, so it can easily hide on a plant, and is hard to find. It is the first bug of spring, and can be found in any garden cabbage patch.
What It Eats
The cabbage caterpillar was named for its favorite food. It also eats broccoli,”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“black as it gets older. So a woollybear with more black is really just a younger caterpillar.”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide

“The mourning cloak caterpillar eats the leaves of elm, willow, cottonwood, poplar, birch, aspen or hackberry trees. Look for trees with leaves that have been eaten down to the "skeletons.”
― Mel Boring, Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies: Take-Along Guide