Bugs Bugs Bugs

They’re everywhere! They are in our beds. On our floors. Between our walls. They are in our favorite places and our least favorite. They say in fact that you are never more than six feet from a spider your whole life. (Who they are - I don’t know, but "they" say this.) I know that bugs are everywhere for me these days. From my desk I can see drafts of 3 bug graphics, a dozen bug books, notes from bug meetings, sketches of bug buildings, microscopes with slides of bugs and jars of preserved bugs for the summer docent station, even an Indian padlock designed like a scorpion. (Though I don’t currently see them - the live ones are here tool) It all seems like a bit much for some old bugs.

But really evolutionarily BUGS are it! As our conservation lecturer said in January: "If you took humans from the earth only 2 species of lice would go extinct." If you remove the insects, the world’s ecosystems would collapse and have to reform in the less productive structure they had in the Paleozoic era. Insect species make up more than half the world’s total of living beings. Beetles alone count for 1/4 of all animal species.

It is good to talk about this. Humans need to understand where we fit in the big picture of life on earth. No doubt - we are special and are specially evolved, but the jury is still out on whether this brain and culture we have developed are a positive ecological development or not. Knowing where we fit. Understanding the differences between NOW in Human time, NOW in ecological time, and NOW in geological time is part of this process. In ancient Greek drama, the hero’s tragic flaw was nearly always “Hubris” - unseemly pride before the gods. By educating our visitors to understand where humans fit in the big scale of life and time that is this wonderful globe we call home, we can help avoid anthropological arrogance and cultural hubris. Then we will be able to live in a mutually beneficial manner with the living earth.

And besides ... BUGS are cool! A good place to start is knowing what we are discussing. Most people think of bugs as any creepy-crawly critter. Scientifically Bugs are Hemiptera (half winged) Insects, often called True Bugs. But for general conversation you can use Bugs loosely and with willing audiences, lead them to greater understanding.

Invertebrates - have no backbone, includes Arthropods, Mollusks, Worms, etc.

Arthropods - have Jointed legs - Includes Insects, Arachnids, Millipedes, Centipedes, Crustaceans.

Insects -3 body parts, 6 legs (almost always wings at some life stage).

Arachnids 2 body parts - 8 legs (spiders, scorpions, ticks).

Millipoda - segmented body, many legs.
The diversity of life is an amazing painting of which we are but a brushstroke. Let us help our visitors step back and enjoy the whole work of wonder.

Robbie Fearn
Curator of Education