The Effect of Light on the Survival of Painted Lady Butterflies Michael Ritchie, Orko Sarkar, Jack Lawhorn, Lorenzo Cummings, Carlee Soeder, Bodacious “Bo” Graves INTRODUCTION Our experiment was performed on the majestic painted lady butterfly(Vanessa cardui). The adults of this species that live in the Northern U.S. migrate to Mexico in the winter. METHODS & MATERIALS 1.-Labeling Label 16 cups –Control 1, Control 2, etc. and 16 cups –Treatment 1, Treatment 2 etc. 2.- Measuring the food Turn on scale Put cup on scale and press tare. Fill the cups with 6.5g of the supplied caterpillar food. Compress. Repeat for all 32 cups. 3.- Create habitat Label one (no top) box control and one treatment Find 2 unconnected dark areas in the same vicinity.(We used ventilation hoods). Light one area (the control) and use a timer to turn on the light at 8 A.M. and turn off at 8 P.M. Keep a light in the same position in the dark area (treatment), but never have it turned on. RESULTS This could help clarify the results because the chi-square value was very close to the degree of freedom value. So, the results could change with a larger amount of test subjects. We believe that the reason the survival rate was lower in the dark habitat because in a normal environment they would get approximately 12 hours of light a day.  The Fish Grinders The survival rate of the painted lady butterfly was tested under two conditions, the control(12 hours of light ;8:00A.M.- 8:00P.M. ;and 12 hours of darkness) and the treatment (darkness all day long). The null hypothesis was: There will be no difference in the survival rate of the caterpillars according to the amount of light. The alternative hypothesis was: Overall Survival Rate: 59.4% Chi- square value: 3.24 compared with: 3.84 from chi- square table at 1 degree of freedom. 5. –Record the data Every day at the same time check on your caterpillars. Record their status. At the end record how many survive and become butterflies. There will be a difference in the survival rate of the caterpillars according to the amount of light. We predicted that the group with darkness all day long would have a smaller survival rate. ABSTRACT Our experiment was about whether the painted lady butterfly larvae survival rate through pupation was affected by the amount of light they receive. 4. – Placing caterpillars in habitat Place one caterpillar larva in each cup gently. Put control caterpillars in the control box and treatment in the treatment box. Gently place both boxes in their respected habitat. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Dr.Kremples Dr. Nobleman Ms.Pappas Zoomschool.com letshuggrenades.blogspot.com Ms. Griffin Udelson Mr. Nexter Palacios Ms.Euphrasia Requena Ms. Christine Hwang Howard Hughes Medical Institute University of Miami DISCUSSIONS Our null hypothesis was proven correct because there was no significant difference in the survival rate of the caterpillars according to the amount of light. Therefore, the alternative hypothesis was falsified. Our prediction was proven true in that the group with darkness all day long did have a lower survival rate. Our calculated value was less, so there is no significant difference between the control and treatment group. But in further studies we would suggest that instead of using 16 caterpillars for each group, use 100 caterpillars for each group.