In September and October in North American climes, you'll see the "fuzzy wuzzy" banded woolly bear caterpillars that grow into the yellow Isabella Tiger Moth. They're often seen crossing roadways and paths on warm days during the autumn.
The Woolly Bear (Isia isabella) feeds primarily on wild herbaceous plants so they're not a threat to gardens. Their main habitat includes meadows, pastures, uncultivated fields, and road edges from northern Mexico, through North America, and into southern Canada.
Going on a Bear Hunt
Who can resist this fun idea? In her Woolly Bear Hunting article, Elece Hollis introduced the fun notion of a bear hunt before moving into the specifics of an insect hunt. Check out Enchanted Learning's Woolly Bear printout to see the insect parts of the Woolly Bear.
If you're woolly bear hunting with young children, they may enjoy incorporating the classic song "We're Going on a Bear Hunt," in which you, the leader, sing out a verse, and the children repeat. It begins:
We're going on a bear hunt! (children repeat)
We're gonna catch a big one! (")
I'm not afraid! (")
Are you? (")
Not me! (")
You can see the potential for great fun in this activity. So lead your bear hunting party toward road edges, fields, meadows, and paths on the next warm fall day. (My kids collected one this afternoon! The Wooly Bear is one of my favorite easy pets for homeschool science observation.)
Wooly Bear Coloring, Hibernation, and Winter Weather Prediction
The Wooly Bear isn't really fuzzy or woolly. It's covered in short, stiff bristles.
A traditional folk belief about the Woolly Bear says that the amount of black in the caterpillar's furry coat forecasts the severity of the coming winter (Kind of like the groundhog and his shadow.) The scientific interpretation of this belief states that the banded caterpillar's coloration indicates how near it is to full growth.
Like real bears, Woolly Bears hibernate. As autumn progresses, the colder weather triggers the Wooly Bear to seek winter shelter, typically by burrowing into the soil, under bark, or into cavities in rocks or logs.
Making A Wooly Bear Habitat
Once you've captured a Wooly Bear caterpillar, you'll need to prepare a safe home for it to hibernate and make its transformation into a Tiger Moth, as follows.
- Fill the bottom of a jar or terrarium with a shallow covering of soil.
- Add a few leaves and a handful of fresh grass from where you found the caterpillar.
- Prop up a branch or stick for the caterpillar to climb.
- Spritz or drop a very small amount of water into the container every three days.
- Replace dried grass with fresh as needed.
Keep the caterpillar outdoors. It will hibernate through the winter, triggered by the weather. When spring arrives, it will spin a fuzzy cocoon and transform into the Isabella Tiger Moth. The Isabella is a medium-sized moth, yellowish-orange in color with black spots.
You might also enjoy: Bug Science: Entomology for Kids.
Sources:
"Woolly Bear Caterpillar." eNature.com, 2007.
"Predicting Winter Weather: Woolly Bear Caterpillars." The Old Farmer's Almanac, 1999.
Sara McGrath - Sara is a veteran homeschool mom of three, Usborne consultant, and the author of Unschooling: A Lifestyle of Learning.
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