Iowa State University


Inside Iowa State
March 3, 2000

Having a ball with bugs

Today, the tarantulas are the ice breakers. Gill Trevino brings in five of them, each in its own see-through plastic case. Trevino, the program assistant for Iowa State's Insect Zoo and primary presenter for the traveling insect zoo, wants the kids to get their faces right up to the hairy bodied spiders. Check them out, up close and personal.

But first he asks a few questions to help gauge the group's level of insect knowledge.

"How many legs do spiders have?" Trevino asks a rapt audience of first graders at Franklin Elementary in Marshalltown.

"Eight," the 20-some first graders yell in unison.

"How many legs do insects have?"

"Six," comes the resounding response.

With that, Trevino reaches into a laundry basket-sized bin and pulls out the tarantulas.

Choruses of "eeeeuw," "wow" and "cool," spiked with an occasional "uh-oh" are heard throughout the art-room-turned- insect-pavilion at Franklin. With first graders on hands and knees, eyes peeled on the tarantula at hand, Trevino goes into his spiel on the life and times of spiders and other creepy crawlers.

The initial fear of spiders soon gives way to natural curiosity as Trevino encourages the first graders to tilt the cage slowly or gently blow on the spiders through the holes in the top to get them to move. When the spiders respond to the prodding, the engrossed first graders recoil in elaborate and animated ways.

Trevino, a Columbus Junction native, repeats his presentation at Franklin four times.

In all, 80 first graders have a chance to see the tarantulas, count the legs of the tomato-eating hornworm caterpillars, hold Bess bug beetles to their ears to hear them talk and corral Madagascar hissing cockroaches.

Trevino's job is to educate people about insects by getting them to handle the bugs -- except for the tarantulas. He wants them to get down on the floor and see how they live. It's a living entomology "science with practice" doctrine.

Trevino uses insects that would startle any unsuspecting person, such as the Bess bug beetle or darting Madagascar hissing cockroach. He shows how insects, even the fearsome, are beneficial and play vital roles to life on Earth.

Traveling insect show

A good portion of Trevino's job is to bring bugs to the people and share his insect insight with Iowans far and wide. He has done presentations for groups as different as first graders, high school advanced placement biology classes and senior citizens. (ISU's Insect Zoo also offers in-house tours, has a Web page and the always-popular Insect Zoo cam located at www.ent.iastate.edu/zoo.)

"I've never had a bad group," said Trevino, who has been traveling with tarantulas since he graduated with a degree in biology from Iowa State last May. "They've all been fun.

"I've found that the younger they are, the less afraid of insects they are," Trevino said. "But I have come home occasionally with a few casualties. Usually mealworms or millipedes that have been dropped. It's unfortunate, but it does happen."

Trevino hits the road three or four times a week. He gets requests for many more visits, but Trevino needs time for administrative tasks and the stars of the show need some rest.

"They get stressed when they are handled most every day," he explained. "They become less active. Go limp. The tropical millipedes don't curl."

Halfway through his last presentation at Franklin, Trevino glanced at the clock and saw his time was almost up. He asked the first graders if they'd like to see a cockroach or something the other groups didn't get to see. The first graders wanted both. So he did both. At the end, he gave the teacher a stack of insect trading cards to distribute among the children.

"I've sometimes left behind a caterpillar, so they can watch it pupate," he said. "I have hundreds of caterpillars."

Trevino said what he likes best about the traveling insect zoo is the interaction with his audience and watching children's bug-eyed reactions to his insects.

"I like answering their questions, engaging them and helping them learn where it can take them," he said. "One student in the biology class told his teacher that the presentation was the 'most fun I've had in class all year.'

"I just wish I had more time with each group," Trevino said as he packed his insects and got ready to bug out. "But we have to get back, recoup and get ready for tonight's presentations."

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Revised 03/01/00