In polymer chemistry, polymerization is a process of reacting monomer molecules together in a chemical reaction to form polymer chains or three-dimensional networks. There are many forms of polymerization and different systems exist to categorize them.
The thistle caterpillar is the larval stage of the painted lady butterfly. The adult insect migrates into Iowa each year from Texas and Mexico. Eggs are laid on both thistle and soybeans. The caterpillar is easily identified by the spines that resemble Christmas trees that have lost all their needles.
Buck moth caterpillars that have a light background color can be confused with both the Nevada buck moth, Hemileuca nevadensis Stretch, and the New England buck moth, Hemileuca lucina Henry Edwards. The larvae of these three species can best be distinguished based on the preferred host plants (Wagner 2005).hey rely on resources that are acquired by the caterpillars (larvae). The caterpillars are robust and can exceed four inches (10 cm) in North America. Figure 4. Adult cecropia moth, Hyalophora cecropia (Linnaeus). Photograph by Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources-Forestry Archive, Bugwood.org.