The hope is that visitors – some perhaps guilty of squashing a bug or two – will walk away with a greater appreciation for beetles, an invaluable part of the world's ecosystems.
"Growing up, you're kind of told insects are bad: 'Why do you want to bother with insects? Kill it,' " said Jon K. Gelhaus, curator of entomology at the academy. "We want to encourage people to take a different look," and maybe some kids will feel inspired to study them, an area of research sometimes overlooked.
As children get to interact with insect researchers, known as entomologists, Bug Fest allows them to be the scientists and explorers. They can identify beetles and process samples for "research projects," Gelhaus said. "It's amazing how much they know from exploring themselves, in their yards."
Beetles, it seems, are misunderstood. They account for about 400,000 of the million known species of insects (there could be as many as 10 million insects), making them "by far the most diverse" insects, Gelhaus said.
Very few beetles are actually pests, he explained. They do much of the unglamorous work needed to keep nature running: break up wood and dead animals, pollinate various plants.
"A lot of people frown when they hear 'dung beetle,' but if we didn't have them we'd be up to our eyes in dung," said Karen Verderame, supervisor of the hands-on Outside In exhibit at the academy. You need beetles "if you want the trees, the flowers, the fences, the little creatures with backbones, the big creatures with backbones, us."
