 "Photo: Josh Tatum/Poly Post")
Cal Poly’s Agricultural Biology Club Adviser and Professor Richard Kaae hosted a bug-viewing event last Friday and Saturday in conjunction with the College of Agriculture’s Open House.
Bugs of all kinds were displayed for visitors in Building 2.
From preserved butterflies to a live emperor scorpion, students got the opportunity to learn about each bug. There were live tarantulas, hissing cockroaches from Madagascar and an enormous tortoise for students to touch as well.
This is the first year the bug event was held with the College of Agriculture’s Open House.
Potential students and interested family members attended the event to learn information about the college. The insect event serves as an introduction to the courses offered.
Students from the PLT 300 class, Insects and Civilization, attended the event as part of a requirement for the online course.
Ana Ibarra, a third-year international business student, attended the event to meet requirements for the class, but found many interesting insects as well.
“It’s really fun because we’ve been learning about a lot of bugs and we get to see them now,” said Ibarra. “ [Kaae] has a lot of little stories in his book and some of the bugs that he has stories about are here.”
Students walked around the room looking at each display, while the brave let their favorite bugs walk up and down their arms and fingers.
Claudia Aranda, a fourth-year plant science student, said that the walking sticks, which are insects that have the appearance of dead leaves, were her favorite bugs at the event.
“I really like the walking sticks,” said Aranda, “Because they blend in well with the environment, I just think they are fascinating.”
Walking sticks are popular pets for many, but have made news headlines in Southern California as they are frequently released into the wild. In San Diego, a walking stick infestation poses a threat to the ecosystem.
Another standout was the ironclad beetles, so named because of their extremely tough shell. The beetles displayed an interesting trait of extending their legs and playing dead when disturbed.
The Insect and Civilization class serves to teach students about bugs like the walking stick and others that can pose threats to agriculture.
Kaae said that the Insects and Civilization class is one of the most popular classes in the department.
“For the class in the winter, when we don’t have an insect fair, we set up this for the students,” said Kaae.
Another popular insect fair held on campus is during fall quarter in conjunction with the Pumpkin Festival. During this fair, insects are sold to help the department raise money for trips. This fair raised as much as $10,000 in past years.
“The money we get off from that, we [use to] take students on foreign trips,” said Kaae.
Kaae said the trips, which take students around the globe, account for some of the bugs that are on display during the bug day event.
While the Insect and Civilization class is only offered as an online course, students interested in being a part of the class still get the opportunity to interact with bugs.
Reach Melissa Fowler at: news@thepolypost.com
Be the first to comment on this article!