That was SO COOL.

[rivka]

Alex and I went to "Bug Fest" at the Carrie Murray Nature Center today. We've been a bit disappointed by some of their other events, but oh boy, this was awesome.

The first thing to capture our attention were trays and trays of mounted bug specimens. The collection tended towards the Big And Impressive: stick insects eight inches long, giant scarab beetles, tons of showy South American butterflies. There were plenty of things we'd never seen before - especially not from a close-up, feel-free-to-touch-the-case perspective. My favorite were some three-inch scarab beetles that had huge protruding horns in front, as long as (or longer than) their whole bodies. The guy who owned the collection was there, and he did a great job of answering questions in a way that was neither condescending nor inaccessible.

Alex got her face painted to look like an incredibly elaborate butterfly. It's really striking. She looks gorgeous.

There were also a number of displays of living insects and spiders. At one end of the room were large habitats holding caterpillars, chrysalises, and butterflies. It was really neat to see all stages of the life cycle in one place. Another table had a couple dozen small habitats. We saw different species of preying mantises, lots of beetles, several different kinds of spiders, stick and leaf insects, and a few kinds of roaches, including Madagascar hissing cockroaches. (Ick.)

The last display was set up by a woman who had brought in her own collection. She had two different kinds of caterpillars, including one with striking facial markings on its back (to fool predators) and another that was large and covered with spikes. She brought the caterpillars out and let the kids hold them, which was very exciting. She also had mounted specimens of what they would metamorphose into, which was cool to see. And! She had a habitat with some Vietnamese stick insects, and she brought them out and let us hold them, too. The adult specimen was a good four inches long. It crawled all over Alex's hands and arms. I was fascinated to learn that the stick insect also feels like a stick - rough to the touch. Holding the stick insect was the highlight of the day for me.

There was going to be insect eating later, but we decided to leave before that happened.

I was interested to note that about 80% of the kids there were girls. And these weren't just girls being dragged along to something educational by their parents - several had brought in their pet bugs or specimens they'd caught in their yards, and they were jockeying for a chance to hold the crawly critters and sharing bug facts with great excitement. It seems like people think of bugs as such a stereotypically "boy" interest, but that certainly wasn't in evidence at Bug Fest.

Sadly, we haven't replaced our stolen camera yet. Because some of those pictures would've been really cool.

Comments

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Had I been with you, I'd have come along, just to share the thrill with a child, and take lots of pictures. :D

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Have you washed her face yet? If not, I could dash up with my digital camera.

Other than that, it seems to have been a wonderful outing. I'm sure she'll remember it for many years.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

She's already rubbed her face, so it's kind of smudged. What I really wanted a picture of was her holding the stick insect. But thanks!

[lizzibabe.livejournal.com]

There is a live butterfly exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. It was absolutely amazing. It's like a bio-dome where you go in and all the butterflies are flying around. A lacewing butterfly landed on my shirt and one of the staff said "Oh, lacewings do that. They really like people."

[ailbhe]

Oooooh!

[tracicle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Amy (being, what, six weeks older?) is into bugs right now too and keeps inundating me with facts aboout bugs that she's learned at preschool and different bugs she's seen in the playground. Our school holidays are coming up; I think I'll have to follow your example and take her to our museum's discovery centre, where they have the glass cases - no touching the bugs though.

[larcb.livejournal.com]

Coral's pre-school class last year did a unit on bugs, and the teachers all commented on the fact that the girls were just as (if not more) interested than the boys. Coral did stop and look at every bug (dead or alive) she saw on our walks! She also held a tarantula at the Butterfly Pavilion when we were in Denver last month. She tried to pet it, too!

[selki.livejournal.com]

yay, hissing cockroaches!

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Ugh. I have to control myself very carefully around them, because I don't want to transmit my utter horror and revulsion to Alex.

[selki.livejournal.com]

Well, I play a mutated descendant of one in an RPG, so I'm a little biased. :-)

And kudos to you for helping Alex to explore, even bugs that horrify you.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

You can't hold these, but you can look at the Insect Picture of the Day (http://www.insectpod.com/).