Science Pets
A graduate student was studying development of the western tussock moth, an insect which eats new oak leaves in the caterpillar stage. Supplied in the lab with leaves or artificial food, the little creatures attempted to live normally in their mason jars and plastic condiment tubs. They tried to thrive in the fluorescent daylight of their temperature-controlled growth chambers.
Sadly, although the insects (unbeknownst to them) supplied good data, most died without maturing to adults. They could not develop properly in the artificial environment. Those that did pupate successfully died in the growth chambers as adults.
Because we followed the lives of the insects almost daily, both the graduate student and I developed an affection for the animals. I related to these particular caterpillars and moths as individuals. I personified them. I cared about them. In the wild, I would regard them as a population, an “infestation” on oak trees, but here they were science pets and I thought their deaths tragic.
Carol Selter
March, 2010