A first for science, or at least the internet

One of the things I love about the Internet is the slow and deliberate fashion in which human knowledge is appearing on it. I think that in the future people will look back and see two discrete waves of scientific renaissance. The first wave was perhaps the initial discovery and the second, the time when that discovery was put on the Internet. For a lot of things the second renaissance has not yet occurred and it is up to us to make it happen.

Imagine the scene, a caterpillar is found in a garden by a child. The child looks on the Internet and finds out exactly what kind of caterpillar it is. Not only does he make an identification but finds out what plants the caterpillar eats, and maybe what creatures like to eat the caterpillar. The child will find out when in the year the caterpillar will hatch from its egg, which is pictured, and when it will go into its chrysalis, which is also pictured. The child will see a picture of the adult butterfly and learn about this creature. Now imagine that quality of information on every species of plant and animal in the UK. It would be amazing. Knowing more about our wildlife will help protect it.

With this going on in the back of my mind I went out into the garden. On the roses were three green caterpillars. I did a quick look on the Internet and soon found that they were Rose Sawfly (Arge ochropus). It amazed me so much that these green caterpillars could turn into flies that I went searching for a picture of the metamorphosis phase. I google image searched, I looked on Wild About Britain and do you know, I couldn't find a picture anywhere. Turns out there is not one. On this whole Internet there is not a single photo of this species in its cocoon. Well, let me tell you, there is now.

This is one of my Rose Sawflies. I took two into captivity and watched them over a few days. Soon they started spinning these silk cocoons from their mouths. I have uploaded this onto Wild About Britain. It is satisfying to know that I have uploaded the first picture of this type of cocoon onto the Internet. Go me!

Whats next? Well, I want to see the flies come out of their cocoons and then I will let them go. Alongside my Sawfly enclosure I also have a jar full of Raspberry Beetles (Byturus tomentosus) in their larvae stage. But more about that another day.