Species on the Edge:

P5 Plantain Leaf Beetle Drawing Class and Botany session

Location: Dounby Primary School, Orkney

The Plantain Leaf Beetle (Chrysolina intermedia subsp) is one of nine identified target species on Orkney, that form part of the multi agency Scottish coastal conservation Project Species on the Edge (for more information read here). A major part of the project is community engagement and outreach, ecspecially within schools in the area.

The P5 class at Dounby Primary School had registered to complete their John Muir Trust Award and as their conservation and ecology focus, they chose the Plantain Leaf Beetle. The end point of their award was to produce a poster, about the Plantain Leaf Beetle as part of a competition to find the beetle a local Orcadian name (every species found on the island, has an Orcadian name). I was brought in as both an illustrator to show them how to illustrate the beetle in detail, and as an plant ecologist, to teach them about the beetles food plants.