The evidence
I accidentally conducted a test under controlled circumstances, and was amazed by the results.
Method and equipment:
I brought some nice clean looking peppermint in from the garden this morning, and left it in a jar, and the picture above shows what remained in the jar at the end of the day. One fat caterpillar, some chewed up stalks, and a big pile of poo.
Results:
- Green loopers much prefer mint to lemon balm
- They can defecate twice their own body weight in a 12 hour period.
Conclusion:
My proper place is obviously at primary school, and not at the front of the class. But at least this is an interesting variation on measuring how much leaf a caterpillar has devoured.
