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THE bIbLE AND SCIENCE BY WILLIAM t. PELLEtIER, Ph.D. [WOODSIDE NEWS WRITER]
Woolly Bears and pods (beans) and eat out compartments. Caterpillars
attach themselves to inside walls with silk threads.
the problem of pain Heat causes the little caterpillar to try to roll to
a cooler place. Its struggle pulls on the silk threads
T he creature approaches,
navigating by the moon,
as the prey trembles. It has
causing the seed pod to twitch.
Larvae pupate inside beans and metamorphose
into moths. Small gray-brown moths exit the beans
a thick hairy body, feathery and live only a few days to mate and lay eggs.
probes, and a long uncoiling
tube. WILLIAM t. PELLEtIER
wooLLy Bear caTerPiLLars
Sci-fi or horror movie? Ph.D.
Do Woolly Bears predict winter weather?
No, just another marvel from This caterpillar is common in Michigan and across
the Creator – a moth. the U.S. Covered with reddish brown bristles with black
Both moths and butter- bands at both ends, it grows to just over two inches.
flies belong to the insect or- Folklore claims winter’s severity can be predicted
der Lepidoptera (scale covered based on the width of the brown band. If broad – mild
wing). Both have three pairs winter. If narrow – severe.
of legs, two pairs of wings, Valid? No. Brown bands grow toward the ends as
and one pair of antennae. caterpillars mature. Caterpillars from the same group
They drink nectar through of eggs have greatly varying band widths.
a proboscis. Between meals Woolly bears hatch from eggs in the fall and over
this long tube is coiled under the head. Lepidoptera winter as caterpillars. A cryoprotectant (anti-freeze)
are never at a loss for a straw! keeps tissues from freezing. In the spring they devour
Estimates of butterfly species range from 15,000 dandelions and weeds and pupate.
to 28,000. New ones are continually being discovered. The woolly bear caterpillar makes its cocoon
More than 130,000 moth species have been identi-
fied, and there are surely many more. Lepidoptera is
the second largest order of insects – surpassed only
by beetles.
Is the existence of seemingly purposeless pain
MoTh or BUTTerFLy?
or horrible evil evidence that a loving all-powerful
Moths are nocturnal; butterflies are diurnal. Moths
are drab; butterflies are brightly colored. Moths have god cannot exist?
short, thick, hairy bodies; butterflies have long, thin
bodies. At rest, moth wings are horizontal; butterfly to develop strength and
wings are vertical. force fluid from its ab-
Butterfly antennae are thin, threadlike, and domen throughout its
knobbed at the ends (think golf club). Moth anten- body. Without the
nae are thicker, feathery, and almost never knobbed. struggle, it dies.
Camouflage (see picture) helps moths blend into Is it possible that like-
backgrounds and avoid predators. wise there is a beneficial pur-
Moths have tiny hooks connecting hind wing to pose to human suffering and
forewing. Butterflies lack these hooks. Wing scales on by plucking out evil? Could removal of an “evil” cancel a
moths are larger than on butterflies. its own hair and much greater good as illustrated by the moth?
Butterflies pupate in unprotected free-hanging weaving a “sweat- Just because we don’t understand God’s
chrysalises. Moths pupate in sheltered cocoons. er” for itself, one purpose for suffering does not mean that a
hair at a time. good purpose does not exist. ””My ways are higher
MeXican JUMPing Beans Have you ever won- than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts,
Were you ever intrigued by Mexican jumping beans? dered what the woolly bear Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)
declares the Lord
PHOTO by ANITA
What makes the little brown beans wiggle? caterpillar becomes? Does a moth or Demonstrating the purpose for some cases dis-
It’s the Jumping Bean Moth. Live moth larvae a butterfly emerge from the cocoon? proves the skeptic’s claim that there is no purpose to
(caterpillars) live inside the jumping beans and cause Woolly bear caterpillars change suffering and evil. This defeats his “problem of evil”
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