Butterflies in Space!

A guest blog post by Jill Staake

One of the great advantages of being in the Tampa Bay area is that most of the shuttle launches from Cape Canaveral are easily visible here. Even in the bright afternoon sun, you can see the pinpoint of light followed by the massive contrail as the shuttle heads out into orbit.

Folks watching the the launch on Nov. 16 might not have realized that the crew weren't the only sentient beings on board: Atlantis mission STS-129 was carrying caterpillars!

The shuttle is carrying both monarch and painted lady caterpillars to the International Space Station (ISS). These lucky larvae are participating in the second of two experiments to learn about the effect of zero gravity on developing pupae. The first experiment took place a year ago, using only painted lady caterpillars, and resulted in the caterpillars pupating but never emerging from chrysalis.

Here are the details on the mission this time around:

The Caterpillars:

• Three third-instar Monarch Butterfly larvae
• Four 6-day-old Painted Lady butterfly larvae

The Habitat:
Specialized rearing chambers have been designed for the caterpillars in this project. Click here to learn more about these chambers. Scientists aboard the International Space Station will monitor the chambers and at designated times, expose food sources as needed. Click here to see the timeline.

The Experiment:
The purpose of this experiment is to determine the effect zero-gravity has on developing and emerging butterflies. Students across the country are observing their own caterpillars in control chambers in their own classrooms. The Monarch Watch "Monarchs in Space" Teachers' Guide has identified some of the questions students and scientists will work to answer, summarized below. For complete details, click here to view the guide.

• What will happen if a caterpillar loses its grip? Will it just float in the chamber or will it be able to propel its bodies back to contact with a chamber wall?
• When ready to pupate, will the caterpillars still form a "J" without gravity to help them drop into position? Will they form a "J" that floats sideways?
• How is gravity involved in shedding the final caterpillar skin? Will the caterpillars have difficulty in hooking their pupae to the silk pads? What happens if they fall at this stage?
• Do emerging butterflies rely on gravity when emerging from chrysalis and inflating their wings? Butterflies generally hang upside-down when they first emerge - does gravity help will the flow of fluid into their wings?

The Results:
There are a variety of places to follow this experiment online. Once the ISS experiment is underway, images will be sent back on a regular basis. Bookmark any of the links below and keep an eye on the Butterflies in Space!

• BioEd Online: Butterflies in Space
• Monarchs in Space photos
• Monarchs in Space videos
• Follow on Facebook
• Follow on Twitter

About the Author: Jill Staake is a volunteer at the MOSI BioWorks Butterfly garden who also writes the blog My Florida Backyard which is her story of transforming her suburban yard into a habitat for wildlife and her observations. Jill is also a regular contributor to the popular Tampa blog Sticks of Fire where she publishes posts about gardening in Tampa Bay.