Above: Butterflies float above a display panel in the Frost Entomological Museum on the University Park campus.

On a chilly Saturday morning in February, a swarm of schoolchildren rushes into a large building on Penn State's University Park campus. Buzzing eagerly, they follow a festive trail of larva-shaped balloons down the main stairwell and through a doorway labeled "Hide-and-Seek." As the kids scuttle into the room, some form a tight cluster around Nick Zaczek, an early arriver, who gently pets the Australian walking stick insect resting on his arm. Scaly brown leaflike platelets cover the insect's segmented, cigar-sized body, and the claws on its toothpick legs grip Nick's shirt sleeve. "They let me hold one of these the last time I was here, and it crawled down my shirt and started going between my buttons," he says. "It was pretty cool."

Drew Cingel peers intently at a tobacco hornworm. Budding entomologists are introduced to the world of insects at workshops and other activities sponsored by the entomology department.

Judging by the smiles on the faces of the 200 or so people attending the entomology department's Hands on Bugs workshop, insects are pretty cool. They are also, at least here in the Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, pretty educational. In four interconnected basement laboratories, dozens of school-aged scientists and their parents observe insect behavior. They use high-powered lab microscopes to watch ladybird beetles devour tiny aphids, peer into terrariums to play hide-and-seek with camouflaged walking sticks, and feed salad vegetables to thumb-sized lubber grasshoppers to learn their food preferences.

The Hands on Bugs workshop is one of several free insect-related educational activities in the entomology department's monthly Catch the Bug series, now in its second year. Senior extension associate Maryann Frazier coordinates the programs, and many faculty, staff, and student members of the department are involved. "We've had a winter bug walk to demonstrate how insects overwinter, and last year we had a night life activity on the farm of Heidi Appel and Jack Schultz, where participants collected nocturnal insect species using black fluorescent lighting," says Frazier. "We even had a session for anglers on how to make a trout's mouth water." Other enticing topics in the series, such as Feasting with Fritillaries, Alien Empire, and Insect Origami and Other Christmas Ornaments, tempt the public to learn more about this unique facet of the animal kingdom.

"There are more insect species than all other species of living organisms combined, and they exhibit a tremendous diversity of characteristics and behaviors," says department head James Frazier. "Not only are they interesting in and of themselves, but they also are perfect models for investigating all kinds of biological questions, from genetics to ecology to evolution. Young children are naturally fascinated by bugs, but somewhere along the line they learn to be afraid. We feel that breaking down that fear and cultivating an appreciation for insects is a great way to get kids interested in science."

The department's flagship science education program is the Great Insect Fair. This annual daylong festival features insect-related educational games and contests, interactive displays, and a live insect zoo. The 1,500 people who attended the first fair in 1993 encouraged its organizers to experiment with new exhibits and activities in subsequent years. "You might say that the Great Insect Fair has been undergoing a steady metamorphosis," quips Steve Jacobs, a charter member of the department's public science education committee.

That committee's efforts have paid off. Last September's event filled the first floor of the Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building and spilled out into a circus tent in the parking lot and across the street to the Frost Entomological Museum. Nearly 3,500 visitors enjoyed a costume parade, cockroach races, face painting, film screenings, impromptu theatre, insect art and sculpture displays, educational computer programs, honey tasting, a fly-tying demonstration, and more.