Insect Camouflage

This week I'm talking about insect camouflage. Camouflage is a strategy used by many animals, definitely not just insects, but I think insect camouflage is fascinating. Insects use a wide variety of techniques to camouflage themselves from both predators and prey and even use different camouflage techniques throughout their life cycles.

One of my favorite examples of insect camouflage is the caddisfly and at the end of this blog, I'll show you how to make your very own cardboard caddisfly larvae!

Caddisflies lay their eggs on vegetation just above a body of water and the larvae emerge and fall into the water.
The larvae build themselves a cocoon from silk and submerged detritus (underwater rubbish such as stones or wood) around themselves, This cocoon protects the larvae from predators. The larvae can carry around their cocoon while they feed on algae like a little portable home! This Cocoon also provides amazing camouflage and makes the caddis fly larvae really hard to spot against a background of the same materials.

The caddisfly then undergoes metamorphosis and turns into an adult, just like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, emerging as a winged adult. The adult caddisfly lives on land and also has amazing camouflage, blending in perfectly with its surroundings to evade predators while they feed on nectar.

Next time you visit a pond, lake or stream have a look under rocks to see if you can spot any caddisfly cases!

Making a cardboard caddisfly!

You will need:

• A cardboard tube
• Sticks, leaves or other natural materials
• A gift tag or small rectangle of card
• A drinking straw or a thin stick
• googly eyes! (you could also draw eyes on)
• Glue
• Sticky tape

First, we're going to make the caddisfly case by gluing sticks and leaves all over the outside of the cardboard tube. Try and match the caddisfly's case to the habitat you want it to live in to help it blend in!

Use some sticky tape to attach your drinking straw or stick to the back of your gift tag. This with be your caddisfly larvae!

Add some googly eyes and decorate your caddisfly larvae however you like! Real life caddisfly larvae have 3 pairs of legs at the front of their body and scraping mouthparts to help them collect algae off of underwater surfaces. Think about where your caddisfly will live and what you think it would eat, can you add decorations to help your caddisfly to move and feed in its environment?

You're all done!
For more nature craft ideas and outdoor activities check out my Facebook, follow me on Twitter or drop me an email!

Sarah xx

Making Hydroponic Planters!

This week we're making hydroponic planters as part of a vertical vegetable garden we're creating!
These planters can be attached to almost any wall or fence and can be planted with anything you like (we've used peas here).
These planters water themselves, are an affordable way to utilize vertical surfaces in the garden and are a great way to help nature by up-cycling!






For this project you will need:

• A plastic bottle
• Garden twine
• Scissors
• Strong glue
• Soil
• Seeds

First, punch a hole in the lid of the bottle. You could use a drill for this, I softened the plastic by heating it and pushed through a pencil.

Next cut the bottle in half using the scissors and make two holes in the lower half of the bottle about 5cm from the top. 

Next, cut two pieces of twine about 30cm long. Thread one piece of twine through the hole you have made in the lid of the bottle. Secure the twine in place by tying a few knots on the inside of the lid. 

Take the second piece of twine and thread it through the holes you made in the lower half of the bottle. This twine is what we will use to attach the planter to the fence. To secure the string in place and to ensure the lower half of the planter is water tight, add a few blobs of glue to seal the holes. 

Now it's time to flip over the top half of the bottle, add some glue to the top edge of the bottom half of the bottle and fit the two together. Make sure that your twine falls inside of the lower half of the bottle and that you leave this to dry for a little bit before moving on the the next step!

Finally, you can fill the top half of your planter with soil and plant your seed!

When you water your planter, the water will collect in the lower half of the bottle, the string you added will allow the water to travel up into the soil keeping the soil moist and making sure the plant gets enough water. 

This is the same process that plants use to move water from their roots to their leaves and is called evapotranspiration.

This activity is a lot of fun and works especially well in both gardens and schools without much green space. 

For more information about Eco-Explore Education's School sessions and for more ideas for activities and outdoor fun like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or drop us an email.