The Extraordinary Caterpiller – Lisa Connors

I get too many emails with ‘must see’ webinars or ‘please join us’ these days. So many, that I tend to automatically delete without considering if I have time to watch. I am SO glad I did not do that for the opportunity to watch The Extraordinary Caterpillar, a film collaboration between Homegrown National Park and The Caterpillar Lab. I felt like a kid again! There were so many species I had never seen before and the photography was incredible!

I learned that there are 19 moth species for every one butterfly species.

I got to see a leaf miner living and eating between the top and bottom layer of a leaf.

I learned that leaf litter is not just important as shelter for overwintering Lepidoptera, but that there are 70 species of Litter Moths whose caterpillar stage eat leaf litter.

For some reason this film was only available until October 14. I am not sure how or when one can watch it now. However, if you did not have the opportunity to watch it, my book review this week is a wonderful substitute. Butterflies and Moths by Nic Bishop (Scholastic Inc. 2009) is full of incredible photographs of butterflies and moths with scientific information on each page. There is an engaging two-page spread at the end where Bishop talks about working on the book, which is sure to awe young readers – especially the ant incidence he experienced! One really gets a feel for his passion for his subjects.

This book is equally suited to both classroom and home use and for all ages. The pictures alone can engage young readers and each page has a sentence in larger text that jumps out. This text can be all that needs to be read for very young readers, with the rest included when reading with older readers. I hope you’ll check it out.