The entomology department’s Bug Village will crawl onto the Iowa State University campus with an educational hands-on insect experience.

The Insect Zoo, which is a traveling operation, has not been on the ISU campus very frequently in past years, so the open house will invite the public and help students recognize the benefits of bugs as an educational resource.

The open house event will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the Advanced Teaching Research Building, and everyone is welcome.

“Bugs are for everyone!” said Ginny Mitchell, education program coordinator for the Insect Zoo and an entomologist at ISU.

Mitchell emphasized the importance of gaining the attention of the students on campus and showcasing the Insect Zoo as an important educational resource.

“Not a lot of students know about the Insect Zoo,” Mitchell said. “We’re actually a really great resource, especially for those who are interested in outreach or interpretation in any field.”

The open house will include all of the Insect Zoo’s living arthropods on display, which adds up to over 125 species of arthropods. Additionally, Mitchell mentioned that there would be numerous hands-on opportunities, such as an insect petting zoo.

Insect art activities will be a staple event during the open house, including maggot art, which is painting with live maggots.

Informational booths with guidance regarding things such as lawn alternatives that are pollinator friendly, monarch conservation and how to combat garden and crop pests will be available. There will also be an observation hive with multiple bee species and cockroach races.

“We’re also gonna have cockroach races, which is really fun,” Mitchell said. “We built a new race track in 2016 for our cockroaches. We totally redid it, so we’re pumped to be able to display that for the first time. We’ll be racing some orange head roaches, and we’ll see who wins!”

Following the open house, there will be two additional events at Bug Village, including an insect field day hosted by the Entomology Graduate Student Organization. Attendees will be able to collect bugs outside around campus. The event’s admission cost is $3. To register, students can reach out to Carley Cunningham, a graduate student in the entomology department, through her email, [email protected].

A new event will be set from 6 to 10 p.m. at Carr Park. In three locations of the park, blacklights will be set up to shine onto white sheets in the dark to attract bugs, and attendees will be able to walk to the locations and observe the bugs that have been caught.

“The insect zoo will help you fall in love with [bugs],” Mitchell said.

People of all ages are welcome at the open house event. Mitchell hopes that people will leave the insect zoo with an appreciation for misunderstood animals.