After the Entomology Club appeared on “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” two weeks ago eating insects and bugs, one might think Iowa State’s entomology department would be relatively quiet for a while.

But John Vandyk, graduate student in entomology, found another way to let the world watch Iowa State’s entomology department in practice.

Vandyk created a Web site called Zoocam that allows anyone with Internet access worldwide to take a peek at Iowa State’s popular insect zoo.

The site, zoocam.ent.iastate.edu, recently was chosen as one of the 25 most interesting Webcam sites by EarthCam.com, a Web site showcasing numerous other sites that use live camera technology.

The criteria for receiving EarthCam.com’s award were quality of the image, compelling content and page design. The judges for the competition, who included the heads of technology corporations and technology writers, picked Zoocam from a list of 100 sites provided by EarthCam.com producers and users, Vandyk said.

Vandyk said the site began about a year ago in an effort to intensify the department’s outreach projects.

“We realized we had a lot of resources we’d like to share with people who couldn’t make it into one of our presentations or were too far away for us to drive out to,” he said. “This is a way of getting the insect zoo out to them.”

Zoocam is one of the first live camera sites for viewing insects and features the ability for the user to control the zoom and camera angle, Vandyk said.

Joel Coats, professor and chairman of the entomology department, said he was pleased with the site and the visibility it gives his department.

“We’re very proud of our Web page and proud of the work John has done for us. It is a good way for us to educate a lot of people,” Coats said.

The insect currently featured on Zoocam is a giant walking stick from New Guinea, Vandyk said.

“They’re large, and people can see them easily,” he said.

Vandyk said future plans for the Web site, which only took him two hours to build, include feeding a tarantula online.

“We’re thinking that in the future we’ll put in tarantulas and have a scheduled feeding time,” he said. “We’re hoping it will inspire people to visit the zoo.”