Explore Critters.im
butterflies.critters.im
Field notes

The meadow journal of Useless

Useless is the network’s eraser-in-residence. This time it has been left in a long-grass meadow with a notebook and strict instructions not to chase anything. Every fact in here has been checked by someone more qualified, i.e. anyone.

Useless, a pink-and-blue eraser with googly eyes
  1. Day 1

    A Peacock butterfly can hiss by rubbing its wing veins together. I can squeak on a whiteboard. Nobody has ever run away from it. checked

  2. Day 2

    Butterflies taste with their feet. I have no feet, which is probably for the best, given where I’ve been. checked

  3. Day 3

    The ‘powder’ on a butterfly’s wing is really tiny scales. The ‘powder’ on me is really just me, slowly wearing away. checked

  4. Day 4

    A Painted Lady weighs less than a gram and still flies between Africa and the Arctic in stages. I weigh about the same and once got lost in a pencil case. checked

  5. Day 5

    Adult atlas moths can’t eat at all. I don’t eat either, but nobody calls me one of the largest moths in the world. checked

  6. Day 6

    Some monarchs fly as far as 3,000 miles to their winter home. My winter home is the back of a drawer. It is about 30 centimetres away. checked

  7. Day 7

    The greater wax moth can hear sounds close to 300,000 hertz. I can’t hear anything, which is handy during maths. checked

  8. Day 8

    No two Garden Tigers are exactly alike. Erasers in a multipack are exactly alike, which is why I insist on a name. checked

  9. Day 9

    Comma caterpillars look like bird droppings, so nothing wants to eat them. I have used the same plan for years, without even trying. checked

  10. Day 10

    Butterflies can see ultraviolet light. I can see the inside of a pencil case. It is mostly crumbs. checked

  11. Day 11

    A silkworm cocoon is one strand of silk about 915 metres long. The longest thing I’ve ever made is a smudge. checked

  12. Day 12

    Only a very few moths eat clothes, and only wool and other animal fabrics. So moths are not to blame for the hole in my sock. I don’t have socks. Still. checked

  13. Day 13

    Death’s-head Hawk-moths squeak when alarmed. I don’t squeak when alarmed. I just go slightly pinker. checked

  14. Day 14

    Hummingbird Hawk-moths are reported every year on the Isle of Man by people who think they’ve seen the little American bird. I am reported as ‘chewing gum’. Every year. checked

  15. Day 15

    Moths with feathery antennae can smell a mate 5 to 6 km away. I can’t smell anything, which is lucky, because I live next to a cheese sandwich. checked