So it will rain 7 days in a row. I don't think I'll need a sweater. But I'll probably want a rain coat and boots.
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I will head to French Guiana on Tuesday, Feb 2. By now I have talked to most ESM classes (if I haven't seen you, you might be able to get me Monday). I've heard many questions, and some really good advice.
Kassandra suggested: maybe the white witch does not want to be found - the mystery keeps people from finding the caterpillars. That is an interesting idea. Should I try to find the caterpillars, or should I just let it be a mystery? Many students suggested that I should get a female moth and get her to lay eggs. That is exactly my plan. If we get eggs, and they hatch, what can we feed the caterpillars? That is a big question. Here is another question: I will be looking at the Cassia plants that black witches and owl moth caterpillars eat. Since they are related to the white witch, there is a good chance that white witch caterpillars also eat Cassia. What if I find some unknown caterpillars crawling on Cassia leaves. How will I know that they are white witches if no one knows what the caterpillars look like? I told many students how the white witch got its name. But many of Ms. Vignone's students had their own ideas about why we call the moth a "white witch." I love their stories. I have been especially excited by the work that Ms. Carter's students are doing on rainforest science. They know a few things about sampling: pitfall traps, sweep nets, and plant sample preparation. They know why Meg Lowman is so excited by research. I am not as great of a scientist, but like her, I think it is all really cool: lianas, ants, spiders and bromeliads. And of course monkeys and alligators. If you have questions, or more ideas for me, you can comment on this blog post. I will answer as soon as I can. I put up a couple of maps to show French Guiana compared to CT, and to South America.
The country is 6 times larger than the state of CT. But the population is only 250,000. How does that compare to the CT population? One of the best ways to find moths is to shine a special light onto a white sheet. You'll see a ton of nocturnal insects. The photo below is from a light sheet in French Guiana. I found it by googling around, and I know that the photographer is named Roy Morris. I emailed him but have not heard back.
There are some famous animals I might see in the Amazon. You might know about jaguars and pythons and sloths and toucans. But there is a pretty long list of animals endemic to French Guiana. That means: they are only found in that one country. A few below. The Cayenne nightjar is interesting: the picture from 1917 is of the only one ever collected. No one has seen one since.
White Witch - DLC Intro from David Cappaert on Vimeo. I've told you that I'll look for the white witch in French Guiana. Until I looked it up, I knew only 2 things about the country: 1) It is one of the most likely places to find a white witch; 2) I bet they speak French there.
Now I know these facts:
Okay, let's just say the white witch is among the largest insects in the world. Why am I interested in this species?
There are a lot of other huge insects. The biggest beetle might be the Titan, which is 7" long, and obviously much heavier than any moth. The titan beetle, like the white witch, is native to the Amazonian Rainforest. Friends of mine have collected it in French Guiana. The longest insect is the giant walking stick from Southeast Asia. Put two rulers end-to-end. This insect is that long. I've said that the white witch moth is perhaps the largest insect in the world. People debate about that. Wikipedia says: "the white witch, Thysania agrippina, has the longest recorded wingspan of ... any living insect, at up to 30 cm (12 in)." The largest butterfly might be Queen Alexandra's birdwing, that has a little shorter wingspan than the white witch, but greater wing area. This butterfly from Papua New Guinea is really beautiful, and is endangered.
We probably won't learn the mysteries of the white witch by sending out emails. We have to go to the rainforest where they live. Last summer I visited the Peruvian Amazon. I didn't see a white witch, though I met people who had. But I wasn't really looking.
My next trip will be all about the white witch. I am going to French Guiana in Feb. It isn't easy to get there. The map below shows the flights: Hartford to Miami; Miami to Georgetown; Georgetown to Paramaribo; Paramaribo to Cayenne, French Guiana. Just south of French Guiana you can see the largest river in the world. Around Christmas last year, I began to collect facts and ideas about the white witch. I started a www site, WhiteWitchWatch. Some of the information there is what you'd find in google. But most of it came from the responses to questions I sent to scientists across Latin America and Europe. I also looked in some really old books, and interviewed the scientist with the largest collection of white witch specimens in the world.
Some things we know:
What we don't know:
A few photos that I have collected. What do you notice about these images? You can find lots more pictures if you google "Thysania agrippina." I photographed the above 2 moths at Yale University. Check out the information displayed with the moth on the left, collected by James Prosek. Scientists like to know exactly how and where and when a specimen is collected. Now I know that I go to the country of Suriname and ride a bus to Juliana Mountain in April, I might find another white witch.
The white witch is the common name of Thysania agrippina, an impressive moth that might be the largest insect in the world. If that catches your attention, you might use google to find out more about the white witch, by clicking HERE. You would find a lot of interest and almost no information. We know a little about the adult stage--the moth--because it has been seen across Latin America for centuries. There are specimens in museums, and you can even buy one on Ebay. But we know nothing about where the moths come from. No one has ever seen the caterpillar. We (me and my research partners) want to be the first. I have another blog on my white witch www site, which is for entomologists. This blog is for students who would like to follow a science adventure which will take me to the Amazon Rainforest in Feb 2016. This picture was sent to me by Robert Oleman. He took it in Ecuador.
Ecuador is a word in Spanish. What do you think it means? A Blog is like a journal or diary: a place to record information and ideas. I have started this blog to keep track of what I am learning, and what I hope to learn, about the white witch.
Notice that each entry to the blog has a comments section. You can ask me questions and give me advice. And then I can add new entries to answer your questions or thank you for your advice. |