Lepidoptera Rap

by Megan Parker, Laurel County Water Pioneer

Float like a butterfly, don't sting like a bee
the lep-i-DOP-ter-A is easy to see

Butterflies, moths, caterpillars too
there's all kinds of colors, they could even be blue

Plants love caterpillars and moths galore,
make sure to listen up, and we'll rap some more

Coiled sucking mouthparts, scales on their wing,
they flyin' all around as me and Joe sing.

Thread-like antennae, knobbed at the end,
this rap is dope, we're sure to win

The Annotated Lepidoptera Rap: This rap was written by Megan for a contest that occurred during Water Pioneers. During the contest, each team was assigned one of three insect orders: Coleoptera (beetles), Hymenoptera (wasps, ants, bees), or Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). Each of three teams was responsible for capturing three members of their order. They also had to become experts on their order and prepare and deliver a brief presentation to the other students. For their presentation, the kids could use almost any means of communication, including drawings, sculptures, skits, posters, and, of course, hip-hop. So this was another opportunity for Megan to write some lyrics for her MCs.

This rap does a good job of reminding the audience about some of the key Lepidoptera characteristics. Such as this key line: "coiled sucking mouthparts, scales on their wings." These are two of the most important features that distinguish butterflies and moths from other insects. And "they can even be blue" is a reference to a whole group butterflies commonly known as "blues" (one of them is pictured on the logo for this blog in the upper right-hand corner).

This activity is a good way to introduce students to the concept of scientific orders, by the way.

Oh, and Megan's group won the contest!