Q&A

Just a few of the questions answered this month: Do caterpillars have a sex before they become butterflies? Where is the centre of the Universe? Do plants think?

ADRIAN LEWIS, EXETER

The sex of a caterpillar is fixed at the moment the egg is fertilised, but most species don’t show any sex-specific features until they turn into butterflies. The immature reproductive organs are still present in the larval stage though, and in a few species with translucent bodies, you can see the red or dark yellow testes of the males.