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Mystery Solved: Female Gypsy Moth Has Emerged!

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Earlier this week, one of our little friends found a "fuzzy chrysalis" in our play area.   We have been spending a portion of this week trying to solve the mystery. What is inside that chrysalis?


Through our research, we found out that the chrysalis was really a cocoon. What is the difference between a chrysalis and a cocoon?  Well, both are the pupae stage of a metamorphosis.  Butterflies make a "naked" chrysalis and moths make a fuzzy/furry covered cocoon.
Being that we have been hatching Monarch's for quite some time, I happened to have a couple of chrysalis shells for the children to compare to the cocoon shell.
They do look and feel quite different.
The children are super excited about our new find. The can't wait for the rain, thunder, and lightening to subside so that they can go out and look for more chrysalises and cocoons. I honestly don't know all that much about gypsy moths. (Thank goodness we have Google!) I anticipate a field trip the library in the near future for some additional research!
Do you know anything about gypsy moths? Have any great books or resources I could look for?

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