Every meal is a feast for the residents of Iowa State’s Insect Zoo, thanks to a partnership between the Maple-Willow-Larch Dining Center and the Department of Entomology.

The Insect Zoo, located in the Science II building, is home to more than 100 species of insects and arthropods, each with a mouth that needs to be filled.

Nanette Heginger, the Insect Zoo’s educational coordinator, said she noticed the large amount of money spent to buy groceries to feed the insects. Heginger said the department was buying fresh fruits and vegetables weekly to feed the zoo’s inhabitants.

So Heginger began searching for ways to reduce the costs associated with feeding the bugs, and the Maple-Willow-Larch Dining Center volunteered to start saving produce scraps that would otherwise be thrown out.

“It’s saving us money and saving them from throwing out more waste,” Heginger said. “There’s really no extra work involved. The bugs actually prefer to have food that’s a little rotten and older.”

Now, Heginger just picks up a bucket of scraps from the dining center twice a week to feed the zoo’s inhabitants.

She said she estimates the department saves $15 to $20 a week due to the new partnership.

While the Insect Zoo is not well-known on campus, Heginger said schools across the state have been visited by the traveling portion of the zoo. In 2001, more than 65,000 people saw the zoo. The Insect Zoo’s award-winning Web cam allows countless others to watch insects such as walking sticks and African assassin bugs online.

“One of our main focuses is to try and curb the public’s fear of insects,” Heginger said. “The traveling educational programs offer hands-on experience with live critters.”

Thomas Baker, professor of entomology, said the traveling zoo is very popular with children and adults because of its hands-on nature.

Baker also said the zoo is a way not only to make people aware of insects but also of entomology, especially the program offered at Iowa State.

“The activities get students and other Iowa citizens intimate with the beauty and wonder of insects,” Baker said. “They are opening the world of insects up to people in Iowa and making them aware of what we study as entomologists.”