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Enter the World of Creepy Crawly Wonders with Creepy World VR™ – The Groundbreaking Virtual Reality Experience!”

When the pandemic hit, it had a devastating impact on everyone, especially those who depended on live audiences for their livelihoods. Antonio Gustin, the visionary director of the Gateway Science Project, was not immune to its effects. His nonprofit organization, which utilized insects in a thrilling live show called Tony’s Creepy Crawly Zoo to ignite a passion for scientific curiosity in children, was brought to its knees. Despite years of tireless work towards establishing a permanent home for his mission, Gustin’s dream of creating a natural science park themed around insects and reptiles was on the brink of collapse. The park was meant to be a place where children could experience the wonder of live insects from all over the world, while also exploring and creating adventures in an outdoor area designed just for them.

In 2019, Gustin appeared to be on the brink of success. He had joined forces with his close friend Dan Capps, who possessed one of the most impressive insect collections globally. He had finally garnered the support of multiple sponsors, and his live insect show was scheduled for the entire year. To top it off, he even released a complementary science activity book for his show, entitled “My Science Diary,” — the same day the stay-at-home order was issued.

Like everyone else in this situation, he was told to go virtual to continue. “From the very beginning, I knew this would never work,” Gustin said. “I did one virtual show over Zoom and it was just awful. My live show was never about me, or my animals, or any educational information. It was about the experience. The live show was exciting; it made you laugh, it made you scream, and in the end, everyone got to touch live alien creatures from all around the world. Kids lost their minds and wanted more. They would run home and tear apart their own backyards to continue the experience. ‘Virtual’ was like standing in a corner and mumbling to the wall.”

Gustin was faced with a difficult challenge in figuring out how to move forward. He couldn’t seem to escape the issue of generating an “experience” amid the pandemic. This thought process led him back to a concept he had considered a few years prior – virtual reality.

“I was introduced to virtual reality by an old high school friend that I ran into at a school while doing a show. He was now a professor who taught gaming design. It was one of the coolest things I had ever experienced, and I experienced it on a phone with a cheap pair of goggles. When I took the goggles off, I looked at my friend and said, ‘Do they make a macro 360 camera?’ I immediately knew what I was going to do with it.”

The problem was a macro 360 camera did not exist. As of 2019, this type of camera still did not exist. Gustin devoted the following two years to intense research and development. He tried several prototypes that incorporated technology from various industries, but none of them were sufficiently effective to be taken seriously. However, in early 2022, he achieved success. He designed a camera that was compact enough to fit inside a terrarium, capturing in stunning 8K resolution his tarantulas, scorpions, and other creatures.

“When I saw the first video using my phone and an $8 pair of Google Cardboard goggles, I was stunned. I had actually done it! I was less than 2 inches tall and inside the terrarium with one of my tarantulas. I got goosebumps. I had very little experience in VR, but enough to know that I had done something unique. I now had the means to create a mind-blowing experience that could potentially reach hundreds of thousands of people in a whole new way.”

About this same time, Brett Waterhouse, owner of the Grove Gallery and a friend familiar with Gustin’s work, reached out to him with a proposal. He said, “Hey, I have access to a matterport camera that does 3d scans.  I think we could do something with this. Have any ideas?”

Gustin’s thoughts immediately turned to his friend, Dan Capps. Dan, a world-renowned insect collector, once possessed the largest private insect collection in the world. This collection was even featured at Disney’s Epcot Center. The three of them spent an entire week organizing the collection in a warehouse, meticulously scanning each display by removing the glass from the display boxes.

“We knew it was something that we had to do to preserve this in the greatest detail for posterity. We were absolutely terrified of damaging anything. I mean, some of these specimens go back to 1872! More than a few are now extinct. The collection we scanned, which is only Dan’s traveling collection, is probably worth about half a million dollars.”

With the collection scan a complete success and the implementation of a functional macro 360 camera, the next step was to figure out how to deliver those experiences. Gustin had embarked on the creation of a science park that would showcase insects and reptiles as its main theme. He decided to continue that venture, but with a twist – build it in virtual reality!  

Throughout 2022, Gustin remained steadfast in his pursuit of his objective. The task of assembling it required countless hours of tedious labor. In an effort to enhance the outdoor experience, Gustin even created a virtual tour of a half-mile trail on a sprawling 23-acre property.

In January 2023, Gustin finally unveiled his stunning vision: the Virtual Reality experience called Creepy World VR™. The immersive journey takes hours to complete and features the awe-inspiring Capps exhibit with over 85 mesmerizing display cases. You have the option to examine each display case up close and personal, and in various locations, the exhibit’s creator, Dan Capps, will appear to personally guide you through the specimens on display. The insectarium boasts more than a dozen macro-VR experiences, showcasing an array of fascinating creatures such as tarantulas, scorpions, walking sticks, praying mantids, tiger salamanders, bearded dragons, and even a chance to step inside a honeybee hive. After exploring the insectarium, you can embark on a half-mile trail through the woods, where the learning continues through encounters with plants, fungi, birds, and other wildlife.

Currently, the entire experience is offered without charge. Gustin states that this is merely a trial version of what is yet to come. In addition to incorporating numerous more VR encounters, a comprehensive learning curriculum will be implemented, complete with scorekeeping and unlocking secret areas via password access. Furthermore, a full-fledged gaming version, utilizing the Unreal Engine, is also being developed. The team is currently seeking funding to continue the project. “We’ve taken it this far out of pocket but in order to take this project to where it deserves to be, that will require a bit more,” Gustin said.

You can access Creepy World VR™ on either a PC or mobile device if you don’t own a VR headset. If you’d like to try an inexpensive VR experience, consider purchasing a pair of Google Cardboard goggles from Amazon. These goggles are compatible with most smartphones that feature a gyroscope.

Try it for yourself by visiting www.creepycrawlyzoo.com/creepyworldvr.

 

Something Ends, and Something New Begins

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Something Ends, and Something New Begins!

Hello everyone! I have been giving much personal reflection to the future of the Creepy Crawly Zoo.  It has been a privilege and honor to have been invited to perform and share the experience of the Creepy Crawly Zoo all over the country for the last 27 years. The Creepy Crawly Zoo has been unquestionably the most successful insect program of its kind; spanning nearly 3 decades and experienced by well over a million children across the country.

It has not been an easy road for me personally. I have given everything of myself to this mission – everything.  I survived major catastrophic events. 9/11 wiped the show out and it took 2 years to start it up again. The housing bubble pop happened right at the peak of that recovery. I had just produced an award-winning DVD, the Letterman show called me, NATGEO called me, Discovery Channel called me, and then everything just stopped. I lost everything and I spent my 40th birthday living in my parents’ basement.  Another 2 years to recover and start over.

Most of you reading this have been following since that recovery. As you know I took on the ambitious goal of building a permanent location for your kids.  An insect themed science park. I had given that venture everything as well, sacrificing my every spare moment to making that happen. Things were going well. I had just reached the point of getting sponsorship and published my first book – the week of the pandemic shutdown.

COVID brought a lot of dreams to a halt and there are many that had it worse than me, so I’m not going to cry about my misfortunes there. It has been a rough 2 years and counting for all of us. But this catastrophic event comes in my 50’s. The thought of starting it all back up again, the grueling travel, making new connections at the same places I’ve been to a dozen times, rebuilding a following after 2 years of being absent is just too much.

I’m not a young man anymore and I just don’t have it in me. So, after much soul searching, I have decided not to continue the live show. I am grateful for all the memories, and I hope you are too. I hang my hat up knowing that the show inspired so many young minds and in that I feel great satisfaction.

A side note for all of you.  I kept this show going LONG after most would have given up.  What kept me going and gave me the courage and drive to keep going was you.  In my darkest moments it was always a letter or an email from a student, parent, or teacher about how the show affected them or their kids that made me get up again. So, as life goes on and others follow, do take the time to tell them how much you appreciated their efforts to share their passions.

Am I Done Yet? Nope!

During the pandemic I was frustrated.  Many other shows did some sort of virtual presentation.  I did one. It was awful in my opinion.  The Creepy Crawly Zoo has always been an “experience.” The laughing, the screaming, the terror, and the thrill of holding live invertebrates was like nothing else. Finding a way to translate that in “virtual” was impossible.

I have always had a vivid imagination when it came to nature. I have become somewhat of an expert on how to share that imagination. I can envision something that isn’t but should be real. Many years ago, I ran into an old high school friend at a school presentation.  He was doing a presentation on Virtual Reality and that was my introduction to it. It was INTENSE to say the least and my very first thought was, “someone should put a macro 360 camera in a beehive! I mean it would be the coolest anyone has ever seen!”

One problem, 360 macro cameras do not exist… until now. I spent years waiting for the technology to immerge and it never happened. During the pandemic that thought came back again and I realized that THAT was the only way to create a virtual experience, virtual reality.

I spent the last year and a half hunting and searching for some sort of technology that could make this happen. It has been the kind of frustration that made me want to jump up and down, scream and pull my hair out. Piecing this tech with that tech, spending money I didn’t have, waiting weeks for parts to arrive, etc etc etc. I became obsessed with making this work and now, here it is.

 

Later this month, it will be going in that beehive.

I have created several versions of this: a 180-degree camera, and a 360-degree camera.  This is a temporary link, but you can see a sample here and spend 17 minutes with Hugo, my Green Femur tarantula. It is REALLY COOL!

 

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

I said I was going to build a science park and I am going to build a science park!… in VIRTUAL REALITY!

As some of you know, I occasionally work with my old friend Dan Capps, owner of what was once the world’s largest private insect collection.  Dan has spent decades designing an exhibit that is strictly for public display.  As part of the science park, this display was always going to be a part of it… and now it is!

This is the first part of that project, and it is still being developed with upgrades every couple of weeks.  While it is in development, it will be free for all of you to experience. You are all welcome to use it as often as you like as we work on it.  Your feedback is also appreciated. (CLICK HERE)

Thank you all so much for the privilege it has been to keep the Creepy Crawly Zoo going all these years. It is hard to think I’ll never do it again… so I won’t say never.  This is a completely new phase in my life and I am scared and excited all a the same time.

See you all soon – in Virtual Reality.

Antonio Gustin -The Bug Whisperer™

Help Us Make Virtual Reality a Reality!

HELP US MAKE VIRTUAL REALITY A REALITY!

Hello Science Enthusiasts! The COVID pandemic has brought us to our creative knees in how to continue our mission. I mean how do you create a personally engaging experience, without being there to personally engage?

As many of you may know, we have begun a virtual reality project designed to give you that personal immersive experience. We are investing in 2 macro 360 cameras that will give you the perspective of being 2″ tall.  Not only are we going to take you into our terrariums with our animals, but also into the real world as well. It will be as terrifying as it is fascinating and possibly even dwarf Jurassic Park! I mean, who hasn’t fantasized about being 2″ tall and in a terrarium with a Goliath Bird Eater?!

We will be the first and only one’s in the world to bring you this experience – here – on our website!

Our project is so exciting that Merge Edu has decided to collaborate with us on the project to bring you the best experience ever! If you are not familiar with Merge Edu, we STRONGLY suggest you check them out.  They are the leader in VR and AR education technology and your kids will lose their minds over it.

In order to make this Virtual Reality a Reality, we need your help.  We have created a Gofundme campaign for this project and would greatly appreciate your sharing it on social media. To celebrate our new partnership with Merge Edu, the first 10 donations over $150 will receive a Merge VR headset and AR cube!

 

MY SCIENCE DIARY

Another way you can support our efforts is to purchase your copy of My Science Diary off of Amazon. It is even available on Kindle and all the proceeds go to keeping our mission going.

My Science Diary, the first activity book by, The Gateway Science Project, Inc My Science Diary is designed to hone the natural, often insane, curiosity all kids have. It is the elementary steps to a greater thought process, turning playtime into an opportunity to build critical thinking skills and scientific literacy. The world is in dire need of not just working scientists, but a population that is scientifically literate. Our story as humans is woven into the story of science; it is the story of how we left the cave to explore the stars. This endeavor was accomplished not by a handful of experts, but by thousands of curious individuals all contributing their observations and tested ideas. The story of science is full of examples of ordinary children who, because of a single moment of inspiration, went on to pursue science. These ordinary children grew up to make discoveries that had an impact on all of humanity. Simple questions like “why does electricity affect a compass?” and “What is this mold doing in my petri dish?” led to some of the greatest advances in human civilization. With every book sold, we understand the next Newton, Einstein, Faraday, or Curie may be holding it right now. By exciting, educating, and inspiring kids, we look to spread scientific literacy so that the next generation will be ready when the next “mold in my petri dish” opportunity rears its head.

YouTube Series

 

Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get all the latest updates about new videos!

 

 

OTHER EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENTS!

While our other project is in motion, we will continue our video series on YouTube and our monthly newsletters.  With the help of Ryan Kresse, a wonderful writer, we will be bringing you the “Bug of the Month” and other exciting articles including what you can find in the winter and keeping your own Creepy Crawly Zoo.

 

A FREE GIFT FROM MERGE EDU

The Merge Cube is an absolutely FANTASTIC product for your child’s education.  Want to try it out for free? Click on the image and you can download and print out your own to make at home. Courtesy of Merge Edu.

WE LOVE OUR MISSION PARTNERS

FAMILY BACKYARD SCIENCE – BLACKLIGHTING FOR INSECTS!

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FAMILY BACKYARD SCIENCE ADVENTURE! BLACKLIGHTING FOR INSECTS!

NIGHT COLLECTING WITH A BLACKLIGHT 

Are you looking for something scientific to observe this summer as a family? Let me show you one of my favorite things to do AND you can do this in your own backyard!

BLACKLIGHTING FOR INSECTS

Insects are everywhere BUT we are only seeing half the picture during the day. The other half comes out at night. Animals that are active at night are referred to as “NOCTURNAL.” And many nocturnal insects are attracted to lights. The reason they are attracted to lights is that many insects use the moon to navigate at night and artificial lights confuse them. Specifically, they are attracted to Ultraviolet light also known as BLACK LIGHT.

I’m going to save you some time here and let you know that the best black lights to use are either fluorescent or LED. Incandescent blacklights don’t work very well. You can find black lights at most party supply stores or if you are in the Milwaukee/Chicago area a good place is American Science and Surplus stores.

I use this light that I got off of Amazon and it is a 50w LED. IF YOU’RE WATCHING THIS ON YOUTUBE, I’ll share the link down in the description for you. But a great science experiment would be to experiment with different lights and see what lights work best and try to figure out why – and you can record your observations in your MY SCIENCE DIARY (ALSO AVAILABLE ON AMAZON)

SETUP

The setup is simple. Besides a light, you will need a white sheet. One that has been washed in detergent works best because detergent helps to reflect the UV light and they “fluoresce.” The sheets serve two purposes: one is to act as a giant reflector for your black light and the other is contrast. Once the insects come in, you can see them when they land on the sheet. There are two ways to set up your sheets, one is to hang them like a wall and the other is to lay them flat on the ground. OR you can do both. There is no right or wrong, just a matter of preference. This is how I set things up.

Once you have your sheets set, you will need a power source for your light. If you are doing this at home, that’s easy. If you are not at home, I use a car or lawnmower battery with a power inverter. LEDs do not use a lot of power so they should last for quite a few hours.

So, what do you do next? Grab a chair and some snacks and wait for all the cool nocturnal insets to come to you.

THINGS TO NOTICE IN YOUR OBSERVATIONS

Different insects fly at different times of the night. Depending on the area you live in, from Mid-May to Mid-June all the cool giant silk moths like Luna, Polyphemus and Cecropia are out. Typically, they do not start flying until 11 pm. Another thing you will observe is that all summer long the insects that you will see will change. But hey! Don’t take my word for it. Go get your science diary and record your own observations! BlackLighting for insects is a great backyard family activity. Remember to record all your observations in your My Science Diary and compare your notes to the same dates next year! If you liked this video and would like to see more videos, be sure to like and subscribe and share this video.

I am entomologist and science evangelist Antonio Gustin, and this has been a My Science Diary Moment.

 

Are You Secretly a Scorpion?

ARE YOU SECRETLY A SCORPION?

Do you glow under UV light? You might be a scorpion!

Take this Quiz to Find Out! 

We all have a secret scorpion nature. It’s true! However, it’s entirely possible that you are an actual scorpion. You might even be three scorpions in a trench coat. So exciting! This fun and simple quiz was crafted by the expert Quiz Design Professionals at creepycrawlyzoo.com to help you discover if you are indeed a scorpion. You might not be a scorpion, but there’s no way to know unless you take the quiz. Ready? Let’s go!

Q1: On a scale of one to five, how voracious are you?

  1.   Not very voracious. 
  2.   Somewhat voracious. 
  3.   Voracious is a good word to describe me.
  4.   Sorry, I didn’t hear the question. I was too busy being voracious. 
  5.   LEMME AT MY PREY! I WILL KILL IT AND EAT IT FOR I AM THE LIVING EMBODIMENT OF VORACITY! IS THAT A WORD? IT IS NOW! FOOD!

Q2: On a scale from one to four, how venomous are you?

  1. Uh, not venomous at all, I think. 
  2. I could maybe envenom, like, a small lizard.
  3. Do not tempt me, or I shall rain crippling pain down upon you.
  4. I’m from Australia, so…

Q3: Would you describe yourself as…

  1. A featherless biped with broad, flat nails?
  2. A venomous, nocturnal arachnid?
  3. Having a body that is divided into two sections (the cephalothorax and abdomen), eight legs, grasping pincers, and a segmented tail (metasoma) with a stinger?

Q4: Do you glow under UV light?

  1. No
  2. I’ve never checked. Hang on, brb. No.
  3. Yes

Q5: Thinking about food, do you prefer to eat…

  1. Hamburgers, pizza, salads, noodles… stuff like that?
  2. Lizards and small mammals?
  3. Worms, insects, spiders, and sometimes other scorpions?

Q6: How many pairs of book lungs do you have?

  1. What’s a book lung?
  2. 2
  3. 4

Are You a Scorpion? 

6-10 Points: Sorry, you’re not a scorpion. Keep trying! Maybe you’ll be a scorpion one day.

11-15 Points: You might be a scorpion. You might not be a scorpion. If you think you really are a scorpion, take the quiz again and make your answers more scorpion-y.

15+ Points: You are totally a scorpion! Go you! But what kind of scorpion are you? There are over 3,000 kinds of scorpions in the world (that we know of). If we had to guess, you are an Emperor Scorpion, a Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion, or an Arizona Bark Scorpion. Keep going to find out what kind of scorpion you really are.

Emperor Scorpion

If you live in the rainforest and/or the savannah in West Africa, and if you are one of the largest scorpions in the world, and if you have large, dark red pincers, and if you can sense vibrations through the hairs on your tail, congratulations! You are an Emperor Scorpion or Pandinus imperator. Your venom isn’t all that toxic, at least not to people. Do what you will with that information.

Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion

If you live in the Sonoran and Mojave deserts and dig big, complicated burrows, and if you are the largest scorpion in North America, and if you love to eat insects and spiders, and if you have a yellow-ish body and your body is covered in brown hairs, congratulations! You are a Giant Desert Hairy Scorpion or Hadrurus arizonensis. Your venom is also not all that toxic, at least not to people. 

 

Arizona Bark Scorpion

If you also live in the Sonoran Desert but are smaller, light brown, and prefer to hide under rocks and logs rather than dig burrows (so much effort!), and if you are one of a handful of scorpions that can climb trees and walls, congratulations! You are an Arizona Bark Scorpion or Centruroides sculpturatus. Your venom is toxic to humans, though it’s not usually fatal. 

Today is a great day! You’ve discovered that you’re a scorpion. Even better, you’ve found out what kind of scorpion you are. Go celebrate!

 

 

And while you’re here, please donate and help make Tony’s Creepy World a reality.

 

JULY NEWSLETTER / VIDEO PODCAST

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A CALL TO ACTION

Earlier this week we sent out an email asking for your help with our mission to build our permanent location. (SEE DETAILS HERE) If you didn’t get that email, well, you may wish to check your spam folder… or click here. 
This is a summary of what we are asking of you. Some of which take absolutely no effort on your part but truly help us.

SIGN UP TO BE A VOLUNTEER

We are in need of grant writers, graphic designers, photographers, video production assistants, bloggers, salespeople, web designers, etc etc.  Have a skill to share we haven’t mentioned? – that’s fine too.  Have spare time? We can help you with that.

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Be the first to fill out and submit the form below and you win!

JUNE NEWSLETTER VLOG

A CALL TO ACTION

Earlier this week we sent out an email asking for your help with our mission to build our permanent location. (SEE DETAILS HERE) If you didn’t get that email, well, you may wish to check your spam folder… or click here. 
This is a summary of what we are asking of you. Some of which take absolutely no effort on your part but truly help us.

SIGN UP TO BE A VOLUNTEER

We are in need of grant writers, graphic designers, photographers, video production assistants, bloggers, salespeople, web designers, etc etc.  Have a skill to share we haven’t mentioned? – that’s fine too.  Have spare time? We can help you with that.

DID I WIN A T-SHIRT?

Be the first to fill out and submit the form below and you win!

WHIP IT! WHIP IT GOOD!

Whip it! Whip it good!

Acid spraying nightmares!  Well, no, not really. The whip scorpions and tailless whip scorpions are like something out of a sci-fi movie.  In fact, many sci-fi aliens have been modeled after them. Like most arachnids they are carnivorous.  What do they eat? Anything smaller than they are!

Whip scorpions and tailless whip scorpions are not scorpions and they have no venom.  Other common names are whip spiders and vinegaroons. They are arachnids; they have 8 legs and two main body parts. They are unusual among arachnids in that they only walk on 6 legs.  Arachnids do not have antennae. In both groups, the front pair of legs have evolved to long “whip” like appendages that they use just like antennae. Hence the name “whip.”

While whip scorpions and tailless whip scorpions look similar, they are related only by both being arachnids.  The whip scorpion (aka vinegaroon) belong to an order known as Uropygi (Greek for “tail rump”). The most common of the vinegaroons is the Thelyphonida (Greek for “murderous female” – I don’t make up the names).  Mostly a tropical arachnid, here in the United States, we have the giant vinegaroon, which is found in arid regions.

The vinegaroons get their name because of a gland on the end of their tail or Flagellum.  This gland can secrete a solution of 80% acetic acid.  Vinegar is only 3-5% acetic acid.  When disturbed they can spray it up to two feet with fairly decent accuracy, leaving the air and some unfortunate soul reeking of vinegar.

 

Tailless whip scorpions are in the order called Amblypygi, (Greek for “blunt rump”).  This refers to their lack of flagellum (tail). Amblypygids are harmless to humans.  They have no silk or venom glands. Occasionally, when annoyed they can grab a finger with their raptorial pedipalps.  Like the vinegaroons, they have extremely elongated front legs that act as sensory organs.

 

Amblypygids are an ancient order with fossilized specimens dating back to the Carboniferous period. They have a flat, crab-like, posture, and are truly alien in appearance.  Ever see the movie Lost in Space? You may recognize the metallic alien monsters, Amblypygids.

So, that’s the technical stuff.  Want to hold one?  Come to the May 11th show at Discovery World

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A CALL TO ACTION

Earlier this week we sent out an email asking for your help with our mission to build our permanent location. (SEE DETAILS HERE) If you didn’t get that email, well, you may wish to check your spam folder… or click here. 
This is a summary of what we are asking of you. Some of which take absolutely no effort on your part but truly help us.

SIGN UP TO BE A VOLUNTEER

We are in need of grant writers, graphic designers, photographers, video production assistants, bloggers, salespeople, web designers, etc etc.  Have a skill to share we haven’t mentioned? – that’s fine too.  Have spare time? We can help you with that.

DID I WIN A T-SHIRT?

Be the first to fill out and submit the form below and you win!

WEBSITE T-SHIRT STORE

This week is another chance to win a free t-shirt. It took some time and tweaking but we finally have our T-shirt shop directly on our website.  You can now view all our collections and different designs. Many new designs and products will be up as the year progresses. As a “Thank You,” for subscribing to our newsletter, you can use this code CREEPYFRIEND for %15 off your entire first order.  Share the code with friends if you like and feel free to share our products on social media.  We appreciate it.

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THANKS TO OUR WONDERFUL SPONSORS!

HEY MAMBO! MAMBO …AFRICANO?

Quick! Someone call Rikki-Tikki-Tavi! April’s bug of the month are the Mambo and White-spotted African assassin bugs! This insect is famous for its two spots and infamous for its powerful venom. A neurotoxic venom similar in potency to that of a cobra AND it can spit its venom like a cobra as well! A venom so powerful that it can cause temporary blindness in humans and knock down crickets from 12 inches away.   I don’t think anyone will be holding these but we will do a public feeding. They are merciless voracious hunters and it will be a scene sure to be reminiscent of the Colosseum.

Assassin bugs are everywhere and are considered beneficial. They are pretty much like a spider with one fang or as it’s known in the insect world a “proboscis.” While many insects have a proboscis with two sides, one for injecting and one for sucking, Assassin bugs just have one chamber.  This allows them to deliver a massive dose of their venom which liquifies their prey and then suck it up quickly.

It has been recently discovered that assassin bugs have two kinds of venom, one for prey and one for defense.  They will bite to defend themselves and it is considered more painful than a bee sting.

Assassin bugs are of the order Hemiptera (true bugs) and have many famous members of their family, the family Reduviidae that is. One smooching member you may have heard of is the kissing bug.  This nasty little member of the Reduviidae family will sneak up on you while you sleep and bite you on the lips. Their bite can deliver a protozoan parasite named trypanosoma cruzi. This causes a disease known as Chagas disease. A disease with a whole list of wonderful nasty symptoms one of which is sudden death, if left untreated.

Good times…. Good times!

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Want to see the feeding frenzy? Then come to our next show, April 13th @ Discovery World!

Ladybird is back! … kind of.

Many of you have asked about Ladybird, the Burgandy Goliath Birdeater tarantula (theraphosa Stirmi).  She was gone the last couple of shows because she was going through a molt. Well, she molted and now besides being even bigger than before – “she” turned out to be a “he!”

Yes, Ladybird is a dude.  Not that there is anything wrong with that but we needed a new name.  I was going to put it up for a vote on the book of faces BUT I had a name I wanted to use, Paul.  In honor of one of my favorite Bugs Bunny episodes with Witch Hazel.

So, Paul, Paul is back!

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A CALL TO ACTION

Earlier this week we sent out an email asking for your help with our mission to build our permanent location. (SEE DETAILS HERE) If you didn’t get that email, well, you may wish to check your spam folder… or click here. 
This is a summary of what we are asking of you. Some of which take absolutely no effort on your part but truly help us.

SIGN UP TO BE A VOLUNTEER

We are in need of grant writers, graphic designers, photographers, video production assistants, bloggers, salespeople, web designers, etc etc.  Have a skill to share we haven’t mentioned? – that’s fine too.  Have spare time? We can help you with that.

WEBSITE T-SHIRT STORE

This week is another chance to win a free t-shirt. It took some time and tweaking but we finally have our T-shirt shop directly on our website.  You can now view all our collections and different designs. Many new designs and products will be up as the year progresses. As a “Thank You,” for subscribing to our newsletter, you can use this code CREEPYFRIEND for %15 off your entire first order.  Share the code with friends if you like and feel free to share our products on social media.  We appreciate it.

DID I WIN A T-SHIRT?

Be the first to fill out and submit the form below and you win!

This is Charlie. Her grandmother won in January and she chose the Ultraviolet Scorpion T.

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Change, and the Power of Language

Marble Mantis looking winsome.

Greetings and Salutations my bug-friendly friends! Welcome and do come in! It is I, your devoted Monarch Lady, here to chat again. Thank you to Tony for letting me take over his blog once more.

As you may recall my personal specialty, when it comes to insects, is Monarch Butterflies. However, I am a massive fan of all things creepy crawly and often raise other kinds of insects in the long winter months when Monarchs have long since flown for warmer climes. Mantises are among my favorites and this past winter I raised Chinese Mantises and a Dead Leaf Mantis and a couple Marbled Mantises. Gorgeous!

Out in the world, mantises eat a varied carnivorous diet of basically whatever insects they can catch, and they can catch a lot. They are one of the fastest hunters on Earth and have both excellent eyesight and reflexes. Anyway, in my house in the dead of winter their diet tends to be a little more restricted. Well, very restricted to mostly store bought crickets. The occasional spider if I can find one in the basement. But, really, if I find a spider in the basement, I’m more likely to box it up and raise it than feed it to another bug.

So, to give my babies some extra nutrition, I ordered some housefly larvae so that when they “hatched” I would have juicy, delicious houseflies to feed the mantises. So pudgy! So cute! So yummy! Now, I am accustomed to dealing with a number of flying feeder insects, so I’m pretty good at getting fruit flies and house flies and all sorts of small squiggly and squirmy things to behave long enough to get into the tank of whatever other insect I am currently raising and sacrifice themselves in a nutritional way. Thank you for your service, little flies.

Occasionally one or two of them get away. This is where our story actually begins.

So there I am on a Sunday evening surrounded by my dear family enjoying a pleasant meal. Chatting, laughing, and occasionally swatting away one of the house flies that had gotten loose. My intention was to recapture the little dear and pop it into a mantis tank, but dinner preparation meant putting it off until later. A fly lands on the table. Someone slams their hand down in an attempt to squash it.

We do not kill bugs in this house. Ever. And what happened next is why.

“Hey!” I exclaim. My dear brother immediately puts his hands up and says “Sorry! Sorry!” because he knows, he really does, how I feel about killing insects and why. But he said THE THING. Here’s THE THING.

“But, come on, it’s just a fly.”

“It’s JUST a fly.”

This is me, your sweet, happy-go-lucky, nerdy, science-loving, hippy-chick butterfly lady when someone says it’s “just” a bug. “Just” an anything really. I mean, sometimes the word means things like fairness and equality and that’s super cool, obvs. But, for the most part, that’s not how we use it, is it? For the most part we use it to mean something totally different and it really makes me crazy. So, most of the time,  I kind of HAAAAAATE the word “just”. let me explain. 

WORDS ARE POWERFUL

Words are so powerful! And the way we use the word “just” most of the time is intended to diminish, to make small, to imply unimportance, to remove power. And throughout our human history we have used it in the worst possible ways to treat each other as badly as possible and take away power from other human beings.

“He’s just a kid” or “she’s just a girl” or “it’s just a bug” are some of the most tame. But when we say that we are saying that kids are not capable of great things, that girls are not as capable as boys, that bugs are not playing an integral part in keeping the world, as we humans enjoy it, going every single day.

I know that you know already why bees are important. Pollination! Honey! Yay! But what about our little house fly friends? Did you know that they pollinate too? They also play an important part in recycling! You see them hanging around garbage because one of their jobs is to help break down food waste. If it weren’t for house flies and other waste reducers, we’d be buried in rotting food.

Our planet is a finely balanced web of interconnectedness and insects are basically the threads of that web. They create so much of the food we rely on through pollination, and there are more pollinator insects out there than you think. They break down and compost our waste, creating the healthy soil we need to grow more food and ridding us of our garbage. They even effect the migration of mammal groups which has influenced our ability to hunt and historically could make or break a community’s ability to survive. Insects and their behaviors are the foundation for all the rest of the natural world, and its time we took that seriously.

Because the bugs are disappearing.

To all my grown-ups out there, do you remember when you were young and you’d go on a long drive and the windshield would get absolutely gross and covered with bugs? Have you noticed how that doesn’t really happen anymore? It seems funny, but that’s actually a thing scientists are calling The Windshield Effect. Based on this and other indicators, citizen scientists all around the world starting counting the bugs in the areas. The rough estimation over the last 30 years is that insect populations world wide are down about 80%.

THIS IS A BIG DEAL AND WE SHOULD BE VERY CONCERNED.

Where did they go? The largest culprits seems to be habitat loss and climate change. When we build and don’t make efforts to replace the habitat we removed, the insect populations suffer. They have fewer and fewer spaces to breed and less and less room to find food and avoid predation. Climate change means that the cold weather is colder and the hot weather is hotter and there are more and fiercer storms and insects are extremely delicate when it comes to habitat changes.

Honestly? Real change starts with the way we think, and the way we think is intrinsically tied to the way we speak. When you see a spider in your home, don’t kill it. Don’t let yourself think “it’s just one spider”, because it’s really not. It’s not “just” a house fly, or a centipede, or a bee , or a potato bug, or a moth, or anything else. Those insects and all the others are the tiniest yet most crucial parts of a delicate network in which they are the very foundation for life as we know it. Stick up for our buggy friends when and where you can. Create spaces in your lives for them to live and thrive. Stop using pesticides at home and in the garden. Get educated on the bugs you share your space with so you no longer fear them. Contact your representatives, churches, and schools to encourage insect and climate friendly initiatives. Teach your kids how they can help. Encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same. Use your words.

Your words are powerful and so are you. Just as one tiny insect is a big part of our lives, we as individuals can make a big difference. You are not “just” one person. You can be a member of a growing group of concerned people who, through their small individual actions, make a huge impact.

Change your words, change some minds, change the world.

Until next time!