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Darien Library – Film Screening: “The Extraordinary Caterpillar”
Event Details
Darien Library, along with Darien Pollinator Pathway, Darien Land Trust, Darien Nature Center and Darien Green Wave, invites you a special screening of The Extraordinary Caterpillar.
Non profit, Homegrown National Park, is the U.S. organizer behind The Extraordinary Caterpillar documentary. The film features co-founder, Dr. Doug Tallamy, and shines a spotlight on the critical—but often overlooked—role caterpillars play in biodiversity.
About Homegrown National Park
Entomologist Doug Tallamy co-founded the Homegrown National Park movement to restore the ecosystems that provide habitats, clean air, and water. As Tallamy explains, caterpillars are essential to the food web: a single chickadee nest requires six to nine thousand caterpillars to survive their first two weeks of life. Even grizzly bears rely on caterpillars to fatten up for winter.
About the Documentary
Over 98% of the living world on Earth is smaller than a bee. Yet humans view the planet as a world centered around themselves. Landscapes are deconstructed to suit human needs, often with little regard for the natural systems that sustain the food web. The Extraordinary Caterpillar follows the scientists and community activists with this peek into the dazzling world of nature’s tiniest superheroes.
To reveal the inner workings of our planet’s foundational food web, naturalist Sam Jaffe from The Caterpillar Lab uses dazzling macro-videography to magnify tiny, fantastical, anime-like creatures – caterpillars! Sam’s images reveal a weird and wonderful world beyond imagination of behavior, form, and function that will inspire people to take a second look at the hidden world happening in their own yard.
A poor understanding of biodiversity and native species has allowed for unchecked harm to be done to the natural world. Entomologist Doug Tallamy co-founded the Homegrown National Park movement to restore the ecosystems that provide habitats, clean air, and water. As Tallamy explains, caterpillars are essential to the food web: a single chickadee nest requires six to nine thousand caterpillars to survive their first two weeks of life. Even grizzly bears rely on caterpillars to fatten up for winter.
On a quest to document thousands of caterpillars – many never seen or photographed before – entomologist David Wagner hopes to record them as global insect populations have dropped by 45% since 1970. As he completes his latest book, The Caterpillars of Western North America, Wagner has seen firsthand the devastation of caterpillar populations.
From suburbia to exurban meadows, abandoned lots to city parks, The Extraordinary Caterpillar shows that exploring our environment begins not in distant wilderness, but right outside our doors!
Director: Jeff McKay
Year: 2025
Starring: Sam Jaffe of The Caterpillar Lab, Doug Tallamy, David Wagner
This movie is 60 minutes in length.
Need to Know
Reminder: Evening Parking
Parking is available in Darien Library’s parking lot. If the lot is full, there may be parking available behind Nielsen’s on Thorndal Circle (view parking map).
