Entomologist Robert "Butterfly Bob" Snetsinger teaches participants in the Minority Scholars Program about an insect specimen.

Some insects are more beautiful than bizarre, as butterfly expert Robert Snetsinger loves to point out. Dressed in his purple butterfly costume, Snetsinger is a favorite with young children at the fair, and has even adopted the nickname Butterfly Bob to make himself more accessible to kids. At last year's fair, Snetsinger oversaw the butterfly room, a mesh-enclosed area in which several colorful species of butterflies darted around visitors' heads and even landed on their hands and arms.

To provide more in-depth learning experiences for children, the department last year offered its first annual four-day Bug Camp for Kids. Campers between the ages of 8 and 12 took daily field trips to places such as the Laurel Haven Conservation Education Center (see "A Haven for Education") to observe and collect insects, used University lab equipment to examine their finds, and discussed biological, ecological, and environmental topics. On the first day, campers received a tool kit with an insect net, a field guide, pins, forceps, and a collection box. "We took a big blue bus out to collect insects in the field, and by the time lunch rolled around the kids were already comparing what they'd found," says Appel, who coordinated the camp with Maryann Frazier. "We wanted to make the experience as fun as possible, so we taught the kids songs with bug lyrics, like 'The Ants Go Marching' and 'I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.' The campers also played games that demonstrated insect behaviors, such as the ability to hunt using senses other than sight."

Bug Camp for Teachers participants search for aquatic insects at the Laurel Haven Conservation Education Center.

In addition to basic science literacy, the camp's curriculum covers a wide range of other topics. To get a taste of agricultural entomology, the campers studied pests that feed on an alfalfa field. On Jurassic Park day, they investigated predator-prey relationships, camouflage, and chemical defense mechanisms of insects. "The kids also learned to interpret the dance of the honey bee," says Frazier. "They placed a piece of transparent acetate on an observation hive and traced the path of the dancing bee that had just returned to the hive. Then they transferred those movements onto a campus map to locate the actual flowers that were the source of nectar." At an open house on the last day of camp, the kids showed their parents what they'd learned. "Before they left, we helped them prepare 'chocolate chirpies,' or chocolate-covered crickets, to take home and share with their families," adds Frazier.

In addition to coordinating the Great Insect Fair and the Bug Camp for Kids, Appel and Frazier participate, along with other members of their department, in ongoing classroom education programs in Pennsylvania schools. During a typical classroom visit, they use hissing cockroaches, moth caterpillars, or a special portable honeybee demonstration hive to illustrate scientific principles about insects. "We try to convey the fact that, despite popular belief, most insects are harmless or even beneficial to people," Frazier says. "They produce silk, honey, beeswax, shellac, and other products, and they are extremely important in the food chain–not only as sustenance for many species, but also as important consumers of dead and decaying plant and animal material. Their role in wildflower pollination is well known, but few people are aware that they pollinate one-third of our food supply. In addition, some species, such as ladybird beetles and lacewings, prey upon insects that are considered harmful, like aphids, mealybugs, and spider mites."