2003 VHS • Superbugs Itty Bitty Bugs 60 FPS

About

Superbugs: Itty Bitty Bugs is a children's educational documentary about insects and arachnids, structured around macro footage and narrated facts. The program opens with the claim that there are approximately 67,000 million insects per square mile of earth, or about 200 million per human being. The historical segment establishes that dragonflies and damselflies date back 300 million years in the fossil record and that giant dragonflies with 30-inch wingspans once flew through Carboniferous forests. Dragonflies are highlighted for their ability to move each wing independently and fly both forward and backward, their compound eyes with up to 50,000 facets per eye, and their role in mosquito control.

The aquatic insect segment explains how dragonfly nymphs breathe through rectal gills, drawing water through the abdomen and expelling it for jet propulsion when threatened. Other aquatic insects covered include backswimmers with snorkel tubes, water striders using surface tension, whirligig beetles, water scorpions, caddisfly larvae that build portable cases, and the giant water bug. A segment on camouflage covers the praying mantis in detail, including its ambush hunting and the fact that female mantises consume the male's head during mating. The spider segment addresses web strength, venom delivery, the historical use of spider webs as wound dressings, and the real identity of Little Miss Muffet: Thomas Muffet, a 16th-century spider expert whose daughter was fed mashed spiders as a cold remedy. The program closes with caterpillar defense mechanisms and a montage of insect locomotion. Running approximately 17 minutes.

Human-made No record of this work says a model made it. What this means.

Archive

Internet Archive, in The VHS Vault

Licence or status

The Internet Archive states none for this item.

Credit

The Vista Group®

Language

English

Subtitles

English

Who can watch

The archive gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from its collection and subjects. How films are placed