Learn all about captivating caterpillars with Dr. Rebecca Forkner, Associate Professor, George Mason University. Caterpillars are: diverse, often colorful, excellent camouflagers; the larvae of moths and butterflies, the second stage of four in the insect’s life-cycle; nutritious food for birds, ants, spiders, wasps, toads, and other wildlife. Chickadees can feed their young from 390 to 570 caterpillars a day.

Caterpillars are often hidden from view, but these Lepidopteran larvae are diverse, often colorful and important to our ecology. Dr. Forkner is an entomologist, community ecologist and plant biochemist. She researches the ecological and evolutionary factors responsible for the colors we observe in plants and in insects and plant-insect interactions.