Uninvited Visitor

We found an uninvited visitor in our schoolroom, a cave cricket (a.k.a. camel cricket, spider cricket).

Since this ugly little creature entered our schoolroom we of course had to find out more information about him.

Cave crickets belong to the Family Rhaphidophoridae. As their name implies, these crickets are commonly found in caves, although some species also dwell in cool, damp areas such as beneath rotten logs, damp leaves and stones or in our case basements. Cave crickets are wingless, brown in color and can measure up to one inch in length. They have large hind legs and a set of long antennae, which serve as guides through their darkened environments. The cave cricket's long limbs enable them to jump high and very far. There bodies are bent forward and appear to be humped at the back. Many cave cricket species live without sufficient food sources (lovely!).

Maybe if we find another one we can have a cave cricket jumping contest.

God Continues to Amaze Me

Emily found a caterpillar the last part of August. We graciously let him have our parsley plant and decided to bring him inside when the nights started to get cooler. I failed to cover the parsley once we brought it inside and he disappeared. I figured he was eaten by one of the cats. A few days later while I was sweeping I saw something strange on the floor. It was the chrysalis. I gentle placed it in our butterfly cage and we patiently waited, and waited. After two weeks Emily decided he was dead! We held out hope because if you blew on the chrysalis it would move. Well, this morning, almost 4 months later, I was awaken by my daughter screaming. The little guy finally decided to emerge, a Black Swallowtail. His wing is crumpled on one side so even if it was summer he would have to spend the remainder of his day in our care. God is truly amazing, how could such a small creature survive for 4 months with no food or water?