You may think they're anything but cute, but Bug Girl is fascinated with all things creepy, crawly and cute.
Although it was an accident, for Bug Girl, it became love at first bug bite! Her sub sequential calling for little critters paved the way for a PhD in Entomology, a turn as a professor, a Dot.com designer moment, a consulting position, and finally an intensely popular run as the creator and head blogger of A Bug Girl's Blog.
Just what is it about these magic creatures that please the Bug Girl? Why does she devote her time to them to no avail? What makes them her kind of pets and really, should she be keeping them as pets at all? Here's Bug Girl's take on what makes bug beauties so special.
What’s up with the bug fascination?
It was actually an accident. I wanted to study animal behavior, but my first choice--birds--turned out to be not compatible with my undergraduate self. (I liked to sleep late and tended to fall out of trees.) Insects were a great model organism, and the more I worked with bugs, the more I fell in love with them. They are endlessly fascinating and beautiful.
Have you owned bugs as pets? What kinds?
I haven't had anything really exotic, other than Madagascar Hissing cockroaches. I also had colonies of mealworms, crickets, and hornworms. The magic of a tiny egg turning into a big moth never gets old!
Would you recommend a bug as a pet?
They aren't for everyone--insects in captivity can be surprisingly fussy, especially caterpillars. They need to have their cages cleaned on a regular basis, and some will only eat certain kinds of foods. Roaches are easy to rear, but have a mild farty smell that you have to get used to.
Exotic (not native to the US) insects are the most common pets, and they have a whole host of special issues associated with them. Many of these insects are regulated by federal and state governments, because there is a potential for these insects to become established in the US and harm agriculture and human health. If you do have an exotic species as a pet, you have a special responsibility to make sure it is contained and never escapes. Here's an example of pet insects gone wrong:
You should also make sure that any pet insects or arthropods you purchase were captive reared, not wild-caught. That way you aren't depleting native stocks of pretty tropical insects--and possibly encouraging their illegal importation!
Why the desire for a PhD in Entomology?
That was kind of an accident too... :) I did some undergraduate research on mantids, and just really loved the challenge of finding out information that no one else knew. So I went off to graduate school, where I had a fabulous time learning new things and making discoveries. I would happily go back again if I could! Also, career advice: PhD does not = big money, alas. But it does make you a really good problem solver.
Explain your current bug research and perhaps in laymen’s terms, too ;-)
These days, my research is on hold since I'm working in administration. The focus of my work is on understanding insect behavior--if you know what pest insects are going to do, you can figure out ways to control them without chemicals, or with less chemicals. My main research focuses on using pheromones to provide a kind of "bug birth control". Pheromones are chemicals that help male and female insects find each other in a big world. Each species has its own unique chemical--so by using the right blend, you can control a pest moth (for example) but not harm any other moths and butterflies. If you can keep males and females from meeting and having sex, then there are no baby insects produced--problem solved! Why jump ship from professor to dot.com designer and consultant?
I loved being a professor, but it was just way too high stress for me. You have to constantly write grants, manage your lab, teach, serve on committees...it seemed like I never was home and was always working. I always loved computers, so went to the dot.com, then got laid off during the bust, and landed in a consulting position. So...yeah, that was all an accident too.
How many requests to identify bugs do you get a day? How many bugs would you say you have in your head?
I've had to be pretty strict about ID requests--with over 850,000 insect species currently identified, multiplied by ˜2 billion people with Internet access...well...you can do the math. I usually don't agree to ID anything that I can't physically examine. Because I'm easy to find, I get a lot of requests from people who think they have insect related medical conditions--that led me to put up the "Bug Girl Will Not Diagnose You" statement. People share some amazing stuff online....*shudder*
What’s in your Bug Girl garden?
Gardening is how I relax and unwind, and I'm happiest when completely filthy and digging in the dirt. I have a mixture of prairie plants, some bulbs, and lots of veggies. I try to grow as many native species of plant as I can, with a few exotics for some spring color. What do you find so appealing about bugs? Most people think they are gross.
In many ways, insects live in an alien world compared to ours. Because of their size and different body structure, they experience the world (and the forces of physics) very differently than we do. They walk on water! They lift things 20x their size! They taste things with their feet! It's amazing. Insect life histories are also complex and fascinating--dragonflies start life as aquatic nymphs that breathe through gills in their anus, and then turn into giant flying predators in the air. It's the closest thing to real magic I can think of.
How do bugs help our existence, if at all?
Probably the most obvious example is pollination--many of our food plants depend on insects to set fruit. Most of the pretty flowers we like exist not for us, but to attract insects to carry pollen (essentially, plant sperm) from plant to plant. (I won't comment on the symbolism of giving bouquets of plant sexual organs designed to attract insects on Valentine's Day.....)
Insects are also critical to decomposition--without them we would be surrounded by decaying plants and animals. Insects also are an important part of the food chain--many fish, birds, and other animals depend on insects. The vast majority of insects are invisible and harmless to humans--but our ecosystems depend on them to function.
What’s your favorite kind of bug?
Hard to pick! My favorite is probably cicadas, since I sort of identify with them--they are loud, annoying, and harmless :)
I also love Membracids, or treehoppers. They are amazingly cute, and have all sorts of interesting lumps on their heads.
Why do you think your blog, A Bug Girl’s Blog, has become so popular?
I have no idea, and I am constantly humbled by the popularity of A Bug Girl's Blog. Apparently pretty photos + factual info + snark = WIN.
You say you blog for yourself, but you say that you have deliberately chosen “to write things that try to debunk quackery around entomological topics for lay folks.” Explain what you mean and give us some examples.
Because there is a lot of fear and loathing of insects, it's a great market opportunity. Lots of products are sold that claim to repel insects, or to kill them, and folks don't always have the background to be able to evaluate them all individually. Some of the products are flat out frauds, and can be expensive, to boot!
There is also a lot of hype--both positive and negative--about various insecticides and insects, and I try to translate the scientific literature to provide factual evidence for what is said in the media. Sadly, science has evolved into a system where really interesting research is published in the most boring, incomprehensible, and complex format as possible.
It is absolutely not accessible to the general public, and frankly, sometimes not to me! It's a rare paper that I don't have to read 2 or 3 times to make sure I haven't missed something. The only group that seems to write as badly as scientists is lawyers.
The blog is practice for me to make sure I don't forget how to write in a non-technical, non-jargony way. Or, at least, to try!
You may think they're anything but cute, but Bug Girl is fascinated with all things creepy, crawly and cute.
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