The enchanting beauty of the butterfly as they flutter and flit from flower to flower has long been appreciated and admired by all. However, few people remember that each enchanting butterfly starts out as a humble caterpillar.

While it so easy to embrace the butterfly, its younger self, the caterpillar, does not seem to command as much loving attention. Indeed, caterpillars are often perceived as unattractive pests that devour plants and should be eliminated. Let us not forget that without caterpillars, there will be no butterflies!

Singapore, despite being a small city state, is rich in biodiversity, in which caterpillars and butterflies play an integral part. In fact, Singapore’s parks and nature reserves are home to a variety of butterfly attracting nectaring plants and caterpillar host plants.

In order to introduce the secret world of caterpillars and their host plants to you, we have developed a series of interesting worksheets for teachers, students and parents. We hope that you will find these resources useful.

Information can also be found in the book "Caterpillars of Singapore’s Butterflies", published by NParks. The book is available at the Garden Shop and the Library Shop at the Singapore Botanic Gardens and all major bookstores.