Insects, Bugs, and Not Bugs...

We are continuing to present our Interpretive Programs here at Farragut State Park.  We typically do a program on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Evening, as well as programs on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

This morning's program was a new Junior Ranger program, and we invited the kids to catch some type of bug and bring it to the program to be identified. The park has a small collection of insects that we brought along, and Teri and I caught a few things beforehand just in case.  But we shouldn't have worried, as kids (and their parents) came up with plenty!!

The first young man to arrive brought a great big slug with him.  I don't have a Field Guide to Slugs (though one does exist!!) so we weren't exactly sure what kind it was.  Turns out it was a Leopard Slug.

Watcha' got in the bag??

Leopard Slug!

As more folks showed up we got an assortment of bees, moths, butterflies, ants, beetles, etc.  Plenty of bugs to go around.

We had a group of girls show up with the best (biggest) beetle of the day. I gave them the field guide and pointed them to the beetle section, and in short order they identified it as a Yellow Douglas-fir Borer.  These kids are good!

Got a big beetle!

And when it came time to release the bigs, some of the kids let them crawl around on them first. Much to the dismay of a few squeamish parents.

Yellow Douglas-fir Borer

Overall, we are getting good response to the programs.  It seems like kids have enough energy and imagination to make just about any program work.  You've just got to get them there!

Mark