Entomologist gives beetle talk to kids at Bangor library

BANGOR – More than three dozen children sat on colorful squares of carpeting arranged on the floor. They ranged from ages 3 to 10 and were clad in blue jeans, striped pullover shirts or sweatshirts bearing team logos. One little girl’s pink shirt was adorned with a monkey and this legend: My mother drives me bananas.

The children, their parents and day care workers assembled Dec. 29 at Bangor Public Library to hear a talk about beetles.

“Insects have three parts,” said entomologist John Crowe of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who gave the presentation. Those three parts are head, thorax and abdomen, which some of the children already knew.

Jonathan Lyon, 3, of Bangor, accompanied by his mother, Mary, said his favorite insect was the bumblebee. He and his mom collect insects each summer.

“Insects drop into our pool,” Mary Lyon said, making collecting as easy as dipping drowned insects out of the water. Their collection has included moths, June bugs, lady bugs, grasshoppers, hornets, mosquitoes and butterflies.

Crowe brought with him trays of familiar insects mounted on pins – the pale green luna moth, the dragonfly with lacy wings, a variety of moths with mottled brown wings, bumblebees, paper wasps, flies, cicadas and grasshoppers.

But the insect that drew cries of, “Eewww,” and “Wow,” from the children was the African cicada – not native to Maine by any stretch of the imagination – which nearly filled a baby food-sized jar.

Brandon Woo, 9, of Dedham, who attended Crowe’s program with his mother, Domenica Woo, has several insect pets – among them a 4-inch long Madagascar hissing cockroach and a stick insect named Tiny.

“He loves observing insects and being outdoors,” his mother said. Brandon said his favorite book is “Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity.”

Crowe asked the children what the insect’s head did.

“Eat,” one child replied. Building on that answer, Crowe asked what insects eat and answers ranged from dung to leaves to other insects.

He pointed out that insects eat lots of things, including humans, which drew a ripple of excitement from the children. Then Crowe asked the children if they had ever been bitten by a mosquito. Everyone had, and they realized that they, too, had served as food for insects.

The children also learned that insects have six legs – three on each side, and four wings – two on each side.

After Crowe talked about the structure and life cycle of insects, the children gathered around a table where he showed them how to mount an insect on a pin.

Crowe works in the plant protection and quarantine division of the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

“I always liked plants and insects from the time I was a child,” he said, an interest that led to his career as an entomologist.

Several library books about insects were on display during Crowe’s talk, including “An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles,” by Arthur V. Evans and Charles L. Bellamy, and “A Dazzle of Dragonflies,” by Forest L. Mitchell and James L. Lasswell.

For more information about Bangor Public Library children’s programs, visit www.bpl.lib.me.us/ or call 947-8336.