"Look at this! Eww, what is that?!"
We hear a lot of that when kids go poking around in a garden.
Nine times out of ten, an insect is the attraction. Sometimes there
are screams as a child in possession flings or flicks the find onto
one unwilling to handle it.
Since we're fascinated by the insects related to our plants --
and every plant supports a complete cast -- we often join the
encounter. We learn, and sometimes we inform. Now and then our
information turns an "Eww" into an "Ahh," and that makes the day
special.
When we asked our Kids View reporters to tell us of their
encounters with insects and what they know about that world, Sarah, Ryan and Dakarione
said:
Sarah on Butterflies &
Bugs
Insects have three pairs of legs
making six legs all together.
A wing of a butterfly is made out of tiny scales.
Butterflies flutter around the air. Butterflies look for a place
to lay their eggs.
Different kinds of butterflies lay their eggs in different
places.
Sarah appeared at our desk with
her report on a rumpled bit of paper. "I wrote this quick. I can
work on it more but I'll leave it here until I come back." We told
her more is always welcome, and how impressed we are her base
knowledge includes what most adults don't know -- that each
butterfly species lays eggs only on certain plants.
I know that lots of young insects
called larvae are legless even though they're going to have six
legs when they're grown up.
Wooly bear caterpillars are cool.
They're up to 2" long with orange, white and black bands and
thickly covered with hairs sticking straight up.
Ryan's spider
encounter