That's what I try to do! Speaking of that, I was posting some of these pictures on my Facebook page and I realized I forgot something I wanted to point out. In the first picture of the Gulf Frit caterpillar you can clearly see the difference in how caterpillars use their legs.
A kid I talked to at the museum two weeks ago was surprisingly educated about caterpillars. Like all insects, caterpillars only have six legs. You see, they have three pairs of true legs at the front, followed by several pairs (it varies) of prolegs in the middle and back. Prolegs are the ones with the little hooks called crochets that allow caterpillars to hang on to things. Most people like to think of them as suction cups. The three pairs of true legs in front are most often used by the caterpillar to hold on to their food as they eat. You can clearly see that in the photo. The cat is grasping the food with his true legs while holding on to the plant with his prolegs.
The kid and I were alternately explaining this to the kid's dad when the dad asked, "How do you know so much?" I didn't know who he was talking to so I said, "Books" at the same time the kid scoffed, "The internet". We laughed and I reminded the kid that there are these things called books that are also very informative. The dad agreed with me. It was one of those funny generational things. The internet can be useful, too but depending on the site, you sometimes have to take it with a big grain of salt.
