Schroeder & Willow-Moth Caterpillars

Jorolat jorolat at aol.com
Tue Jul 20 14:17:38 EDT 1999


Hi,
     A reference to the following experiment was found in a book called "The
Great Evolution Mystery" by Gordon Rattray Taylor:
     About 60 years ago Harry Schroeder performed an experiment on willow-moth
caterpillars. At pupation these caterplillars crawl onto leaves, pull the tips
over, then wrap the rest of the leaves around themselves.
     Schroeder waited until the caterpillars were on the leaves before cutting
the tips off. The caterpillars responded by using the sides of the leaves
instead and pupation continued normally thereafter.
     When pupation time arrived for the subsequent generation 4 of the 19
offspring used the side of the leaves in preference to the tips. Can anyone
help in locating the primary source for this (or any similar) experiment? - any
other secondary reference would also be appreciated.
 
Thankyou,
 
Jorolat
 
http://members.aol.com/jorolat
An Internal Evolutionary Mechanism: A simple Model and Method of Testing
How Psychology colours perception of Natural Realities
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