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The Effect of Temperature on Caterpillar Development Rate

Our conclusion was that we rejected our null hypothesis because

temperature did affect the growth rate of the painted lady butterfly. The

heating pad in our treatment group malfunctioned over the weekend, and

the temperature increased from 25oC to 31oC. This caused the food to dry

out, and the caterpillars were dead when we found them. Too much heat

killed the treatment group, and stopped their growth completely.

Other future experiments could be done to further tell us about caterpillar

growth and development, but this time more precautions would have to be

taken to prevent accidents that gave us unexpected results due to

equipment error. We expected caterpillars given more warmth to pupate

more quickly than those in a cooler environment, but we did not foresee

the death of the individuals in the experimental group.

Unfortunately, 100% of our treatment group died because of a heating pad

malfunction. The two survivors both formed a chrysalis on Day 11. The control

group, having grown naturally were larger, and took an average of 14 days to

pupate. The P value associated with our t statistic was 0.87-9 , indicating a

highly significant difference between treatment and control. Our null hypothesis

was rejected.

One of the principal parameters of thermodynamics, a branch of physics, concerns itself with the effects of changes in

temperature on physical systems . It is believed that metabolic reactions are somehow affected by temperature and generally,

the higher the temperature, the faster the metabolic reactions occur. Does temperature affect metabolic reactions? Do

metabolic reactions affect development rate? We studied larvae of Vanessa cardui , the Painted-Lady Butterfly, to answer

these questions. Vanessa cardui is a well-known colorful butterfly, sometimes known in North America as the

Cosmopolitan. It is one of the most widespread of all butterflies, found on every continent except Antarctica. Moreover, it

occurs in any temperate zone. This organism metamorphoses from a larva to a butterfly, making development easily

observable. Furthermore, its relatively short life cycle makes collecting data more time efficient.

Domain: Domain: EukaryaEukaryaKingdom: Kingdom: AnimaliaAnimaliaPhylum: Phylum: ArthropodaArthropoda

Class: Class: InsectaInsectaOrder: Order: LepidopteraLepidoptera

Family: Family: NymphalidaeNymphalidaeGenus: Genus: VanessaVanessaSpecies: Species: carduicardui

To perform our experiment, we obtained 12 caterpillars for each of a

control and experimental group. Then we placed 6.35 grams of caterpillar food

in each of 24 cups. We gently brushed one caterpillar into each of the 24 cups

and then placed 12 cups into a control bin and the other 12 into an

experimental bin. To test one variable, temperature, we placed a heating pad

under our experimental bin to keep a temperature of 25oC. Our control group

was left at 20oC. To make sure that our temperatures remained constant in

both groups, we placed thermometers in each bin. We then measured, in days,

the time it took until each caterpillar reached the pupa stage. We used a

student’s t-test to analyze our data.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

METHODS AND MATERIALS

INTRODUCTION RESULTS

TAXONOMIC RANKS

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TRT# DATE CON# DATEE1 D11 C1 D13

E2 N/A C2 D14

E3 N/A C3 N/A

E4 N/A C4 D13

E5 N/A C5 D14

E6 N/A C6 D14

E7 N/A C7 D14

E8 D11 C8 D14

E9 N/A C9 D14

E10 N/A C10 D14

E11 N/A C11 N/A

E12 N/A C12 D13

Hurtled Turtles:Desmond Bellinger Gabriela HueteKeandre Heard Trenton Knight

Gabby Ramirez

Legend:Legend:• C# is the name used to identify each caterpillar in the control groupC# is the name used to identify each caterpillar in the control group• E# is the name used to identify each caterpillar in the experimental groupE# is the name used to identify each caterpillar in the experimental group• D# is the number of days it took for the caterpillar to reach the pupa stageD# is the number of days it took for the caterpillar to reach the pupa stage• N/A is used to identify the caterpillars that died before the pupa stageN/A is used to identify the caterpillars that died before the pupa stage