Build-a-Bug

Insect Zoo

You’ve probably made sandcastles or towers before, but have you ever built a bug?  Stop by our Build-a-Bug booth and create your very own insect! Design and craft together a bug of your own…and show off your creation to your friends!

Insect Life Cycles

Some juvenile insects look like the spittin' image of the adults. In other insects the juveniles look like they’ve come from a different planet than the adults. Come see how this happens. You will be surprised which is which!

Bugs Get Sick, Too

Did you know that germs, worms and other bugs can make insects sick?  Where you aware that Insect parasites and pathogens can be used  as biological pesticides to kill insects pests and are alternatives to chemical pesticides?  Do you know that many of these germs and worms that kill insects are mass-produced and formulated in USA and other countries of the world?   Please come and learn more about some interesting facts about germs, worms and insects.

Decomposers

D.E.A.D. (Decomposer Education & Appreciation Destination). At the decomposer booth, you will learn about the diversity and ecological importance of this under-appreciated group. There will be ample opportunities to handle live specimens!

Mosquito Biology and Control

Meet the most dangerous animal on earth … the mosquito.  Mosquitoes kill more than one million people every year and sicken hundreds of millions. See these insects up close and learn what you can do to control them and prevent the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile virus.

The diversity of insects is mind-boggling!  In our 'Insect Zoo" booths we bring these amazing animals up-close-and-personal.  Here you will find many living insects that spend their lives walking on the land, flying in the air and/or swimming in the water.  Come have a close look at the amazing and beautiful world of insects!

Non-Insect Arthropod Zoo

The group Arthropoda (known as arthropods) includes a lot more than just insects. Come visit the Non-insect Arthropod booth to learn more about the differences between insects and other arthropods like arachnids, myriapods, and crustaceans. We'll also have some live spiders and scorpions to take a look at! We hope to see you there!

Visit our booth and Meet the Beetles!  Here we will exhibit a large collection of some of the most striking beetle species including those native to Arizona.  We will show you live specimens of some of Arizona's most fascinating beetles and will tell you about the astonishing diversity and ecological importance of the most diverse group of insects in the world. 

Meet the Beetles!

Pollination is the mutually beneficial interaction between animals and plants whereby plants provide food resources (nectar and pollen) for animals in exchange for the transportation of pollen from the flowers of one plant to another.  Most pollinators are insects including: bees, butterflies, moths, flies and many more. These pollinators are largely responsible for a considerable amount of the food you eat and for the proper functioning of many of the world’s ecosystems.   So come explore the world of pollinators!  See what our pollinators look like, learn about what they do and watch some real live pollinators carry out their business!

Pollinators

Brain Zoo

If you think that calling someone a "bug brain" is an insult, then think again – pound for pound, insect brains are no less complex than ours, with thousands and thousands of neurons crammed into those tiny heads!  Insects have amazing abilities to see, smell, taste, feel, and hear the world around them, and all of these abilities come from their amazing sensory organs and brain.  Stop by the "Bug Brain" exhibit to learn a bit about what's going on inside a bug's head.

Bug Chow

If you think eating insects is gross, in some parts of the world you'd be in the minority. From Honeypot ants to the Agave worm, insects remain a traditional food in cultures across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Whether you've never intentionally eaten an insect or they're your favorite snack, stop by our booth to enjoy a selection of tasty edible insects. Afterwards you'll brag to your friends"I ate a bug... and I liked it"

Butterfly Magic!

Ever felt a butterfly wing? Seen butterfly wings up close? Seen the inside of a moth cocoon? Examined an empty chrysalis? Handled caterpillars? Hold--if you dare--live caterpillars and chrysalises. Check our other butterfly and moth related display items, including some mind-rocking macro-photographs. All this and more at the Tucson Botanical Gardens' Butterfly Magic tent.  Free samples of empty chrysalises for the first 50 people; free coloring pages for children.

Insect Venom

Insects are tiny and often tasty – and they are in a big world with lots of big nasty things that want to eat them.  But many ants, wasps, and bees have a trick to level the field: they can sting.  Is it effective?  You be the Judge!  We’ll look at these beautiful insects and probe the what, how, and why of stings and their effectiveness.

Centipedes and Millipedes

Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute presents live, cuddly, creepy, exciting bugs from the Sonoran Desert and the tropical rain forests of the world. "Bugging Out" has live arthropod exhibits, many of them hands on.  Our arthropods include millipedes, centipedes, tarantulas, vinegaroons, scorpions, walking sticks, beetles and more.

How hungry is the caterpillar?  Find out at the UA Bookstore's Very Hungry Caterpillar tent to learn more about insects and their worlds through books and toys, listen to some creepy-crawly stories, and even make your own hungry caterpillar to take home. We will have some insect-related books for older children as well, such as field guides to our local insect fauna.

Very Hungry Caterpillar: Books and More

Join us for these exciting activities and many more!

A Riddle

Fill in the blank to this popular nursery rhyme to find out the theme for this urban entomology booth.

                                             Good night, sleep tight,

                                             Don’t let the ___  ____

                                             Then take your shoe

                                             And knock ‘em ‘til

                                             They’re black and blue

Life in Miniature

Ever wonder what an ant’s eye looks like? What those teensy things flying and hopping in the grass might be? Come to our ‘Life in Miniature’ booth to ZOOM IN and see live examples of our tiny friends, and learn about the benefits of small insects, the range of insect sizes, and the challenges of life in miniature.

Some insects live together permanently in large groups and are called social, while others are solitary. Social insects live in colonies that may have a few dozen members or hundreds of thousands. They work as a team to build a nest, find food and care for the young. Ants, termites and some bees and wasps are highly social and their colonies are well structured and efficient.Come meet the social insects and learn about the ways they organize and work together at our booth.

Social Insects

The transgenic crops booth will showcase the advantages and disadvantage of transgenic crops, one of the newest pest management tactics widely used today. There will be several pots of transgenic and non-transgenic cotton plants as well as  caterpillars fed on transgenic and non-transgenic cotton leaves in Petri dishes  in the booth.  We will also have a  poster introducing transgenic crops, their advantages and disadvantages, and plantation of transgenic crops and the  benefits obtained in Arizona.

Transgenic Crops

Insect Olympics

Insects are amazing athletes - super strong, super fast, able to leap tall beagles in a single bound.  Come and be an insect athlete yourself.  Try your skills at butterfly wrangling, cockroach racing and dungball rolling (relax, it's not real dung!)

The Southeast Arizona Butterfly Association (SEABA) is a local chapter of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA). We will have information about our monthly meetings held at the Tucson Botanical Gardens and numerous field trips searching for the amazing diversity of butterflies found in SE AZ.  In addition we will have a number of live, local butterfly caterpillars and pupae (and maybe a freshly emerging butterfly or two), along with a display case with specimens of many of the local butterflies.

More Butterflies