A new study published in PLoS One proves that at least some memories learned by caterpillars remain after their transformation into beautiful swans. If you look at this finding in a certain way, it can seem incredibly obvious, almost to the point of comedy. I mean, does Liza Minelli forget everything she knows every time she "augments" her appearance? Ok, bad example.
Would someone please teach me not to fly into burning hot streetlights at night?
But when you take into account the incredible changes that take place in the caterpillar to become a moth, the finding grows in intrigue. Most importantly, the caterpillar's brain grows and changes in complexity significantly while in the pupa.
In order to demonstrate the...
retention of memory, Douglas Blackiston along with Elena Casey and Martha Weiss (MY BIO TEACHER IN COLLEGE) working at Georgetown University first conditioned a group of tobacco hornworm caterpillars to avoid things that smelled of ethyl acetate. Lo and behold, that same crop of caterpillars continued to avoid the chemical even as full grown moths. Interestingly, the caterpillars did not retain the memory if they were conditioned before they were three weeks old.
This study may help the agriculture industry to better understand their nemeses and also is a positive finding for Andrew. It now seems that once he sheds his hideous, grub-like facial features and morphs into a beautiful June bug, he will at least recall one or two of the three things he's learned in his life thus far. I'm sooo happy for him.
Life Science
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