CSU Bug zoo
Come one, come all to CSU's Bug Zoo. There are enough creepy crawlers to go around.
Last Friday, the Loveland Public Library hosted Colorado State University’s Bug Zoo’s educational outreach program. Maia Holmes is the director of the Big Zoo as well as an Entomologist and instructor with the Department of Agricultural Biology at CSU. She presented an array of bugs for her audience.
There is a permanent home for all of the bugs in the basement of the Plant Sciences Building on CSU’s main campus. “I think right now our count is 32 different species and so, as far as individuals go, we have thousands,” said Holmes. She shared that the bugs she brought with her to the event were only about 1/15th of her collection.
Over 50 people crowded in the back room of the library to learn all about arthropods. They didn’t know it yet, but they were in the presence of a tarantula, a hissing cockroach, a praying mantis, and a couple of scorpions.
While making sure not to step on any little toes in the audience, Holmes quickly engaged her audience and got them interested in learning about the bug she had brought.
The presentation started with talking about the praying mantis that Holmes had brought. She walked it around the room so that everyone could get a closer look. The praying mantis stayed in its enclosure and away from any danger that being handled by children might present.
Next came the male hissing cockroach. Unlike the praying mantis, the cockroach could be touched by the audience. While making her way around the room, Holmes informed the audience that hissing cockroaches make good household pets and love to eat dog food. Although many children in the audience decided to simply observe the almost three inch cockroach, 12-year-old Etty showed no signs of fear as she stroked the bug’s back.
It was only after the hissing cockroach was put away that the real show began. Encased in solid resin, a scorpion and a tarantula were passed around the room. The audience was asked to identify the different body segments of the bugs and count how many legs each one had.
Holmes shows a curious boy the hissing cockroach. She explained that mites only live on this kind of cockroach.
The mites looked like little white poppy seeds crawling around the cockroach’s head and legs. Their purpose is to keep the cockroach clean.
Once the two displays were returned to the front of the room, Holmes revealed that she had brought a live tarantula. Sitting in his enclosure was Joey, the male tarantula. Once the initial shock of the spider had worn off, Holmes explained that there are only about three dangerous spiders and about five spiders that are medically dangerous.
Holmes did another lap around the room so that the audience could see the live tarantula. She ensured the children that the spider would be staying in his enclosure. This is because tarantulas have hairs on their abdomen that feel like fiberglass to the touch. Tarantulas’ defense mechanism is to kick these hairs off of their backs and onto their attacker using their back legs.
Once everyone had a chance to see the tarantula up close and personal, the presentation was wrapped up. That was when children who didn’t get to ask their questions, could ask them to Holmes.
If you are interested in more information about the CSU Bug Zoo, feel free to visit their main location on CSU’s main campus. In Room E-007 of the Plant Sciences Building, you can find a wide variety of bugs to observe.
Published on February 20, 2022​