THE GREAT BUG HUNT

When I recall the setting for my best childhood memories, a delightful back yard in East Greenville comes to mind.  One might have known that I would end up in the science field because a favorite August adventure was always the discovery and collection of disgustingly creepy and recently discarded cicada shells.  

My mother must have been a very patient woman because I remember keeping these ghastly dried carcasses in a paper greeting card box under my bed.  It was quite the gruesome assemblage. Most of their alien forms had been found clinging to the scratchy bark of our family's white cherry tree. 

Our Developmental Kindergarten class spent some time recently on a similar quest and I was happy to accompany them. 

Carter was the line-leader as the group headed out to the hunting grounds. He stopped at the road and looked both ways, making sure it was safe to cross.

The hunt began at the top of the hill and anticipation grew as Mrs. Welby began to dispense the magnifiers. 

A couple of white butterflies were immediately obvious and caused a bit of a stir.  The pair wisely fluttered over the naturalized area next to the grass, effectively decreasing their risk of capture. 

Magnifiers in hand, the hunt was soon underway.  A rather busy assemblage of black ants was spotted and found to have threatening pinchers for mouths. We opted to let those ferocious-looking mouths alone.

There was a bee sighting which prompted the DK teacher (Mrs. Ness) to give some sensible advice about bees. 


“Remember; let’s give that bee plenty of space!"

Emily’s shriek heralded the first spider find of the outing and was the catalyst for another reminder. “LOOKING, not TOUCHING!”

Clear plastic cubes were produced and live specimens were carefully placed into the handy bug boxes for later inspection by the class. 

Photographer and middle school teacher Mrs. Reynolds joined us for the second part of the excursion.  When she pulled the professional camera from her bag, the students were happy to ham it up for that nice long lens.

Luke found an aphid on a bright yellow dandelion flower as Scarlett helped to add an ant to a bug box. 

A great shout came from the adventurers.  You would have thought buried treasure had been discovered.  But no.  “We found a PILL BUG!”  The group gathered round to get a closer look.

I have always been a magnet for insects, regular bug-bait.  My skin transforms into itchy mountain ranges after even short exposures to those sneaky summertime vectors. A morning application of delightfully fragrant Thymes lotion was probably not the most brilliant choice I’ve ever made and I soon found myself smacking my arms and legs. 

While I was slapping, I caught random snippets of conversation from the ranks: 

“I’ve got an ant on my magnifier!”

“Braden found a bug we never saw!”

“I found a tick!”





It was not lost on me that the children were searching diligently for bugs and I was trying diligently to keep them off my skin....

There were some persuasive words from Scarlett (apparently the resident expert at luring insects)… “If you want to catch a bug, tell them to climb into your sleeping bag…they love that….”

The assemblage moved from the grassy hill to the nature trail.  Along with the cooler temperature in the shade, we noted bird sounds and a whole new collection of creepy crawly things.  

There were cones and arrows along the trail, not-so-subtle clues that Middle School Field Day festivities would soon be disrupting the serenity of the woods.

One of the children pointed to my shoe and hurled an accusation. She suspected me of stepping on a “curling up bug."  I continue to maintain my innocence. 

Small rocks were lifted and beetles were exposed.  A reddish ant-like insect was spotted by Naomi on the bottom side of a leaf.

The creek bed proved to be a hot spot for bug detection.  

Just as the last bug box received its occupant, increasing noises told us the Middle School students were on their way.  The children moved over to the side and transitioned easily from bug-scientists to race spectators.  They cheered and whooped and encouraged as the entire middle school body sprinted, jogged (or in some cases walked while eye-rolling) along the beautiful Penn View nature trail. 


The ever-enthusiastic Mr. Wikerd was leading the way.  Ahead of the runners, he crashed through the forest on a motorized gator while shouting “We’ve got a race coming through here!” I really need to put a hearing test on my calendar for the person who decided to give that man a megaphone….

As I left the class to head back to my office, the last few runners were just entering the woods.  I was walking against race traffic so one of the helpful 5-year old students shouted some sage advice in my direction.  "Don't get RUNNED OVER!"  

In spite of the nice assortment of mosquito bites dotting my arms and ankles, a WONDERFUL day of discovery was had by all!