Summary
Tent caterpillars live together by the hundreds, spinning shared silk shelters and following silk trails to food. Deep Look shows how these caterpillars use teamwork to survive.
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All ages
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
Tent caterpillars build a silk tent as a group home and lay down silk trails so the whole colony can find leaves and get back safely. Living together lets them stay warm, share good feeding spots, and be safer than a caterpillar alone.
- How do tent caterpillars use silk to work as a group?
- How does living together help them find food and stay safe?
- Why might a group of caterpillars survive better than one alone?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: colony, silk trail, group, survive.
Try it: Draw a silk tent with trails leading to leaves. Write two ways living in a group helps the caterpillars.