Published on 03/22/12

UGA Insect Zoo will host roach races, serve cricket cookies

There won’t be any lions, tigers or bears, but the University of Georgia’s annual Insect Zoo will let visitors get up close and personal with roaches, crickets and other bugs.

Set for March 30 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. in the UGA Biological Sciences Building in Athens, the Insect Zoo is presented by the UGA Entomology Department and the H.O. Lund Entomology Club.

Activities will include roach races, bess beetle tractor pulls, cricket spitting, the wheel of insect trivia, insect hula and live and preserved insect specimens.

There will also be more-traditional events like face painting, a corn hole beanbag game and arts and crafts.

Food made with real insects as ingredients will be served.

In addition to the annual Insect Zoo event, UGA Entomology Department faculty and students take living insects and museum specimens to schools, libraries, club meetings and community centers as educational interactive displays.

For more information, go to the website www.insectzoo.uga.edu/ or email entomolo@uga.edu.

Experts/Sources:

Marianne Shockley

A UGA student shows off his mealworm chocolate chip cookie at the UGA Insect Zoo in April 2010.

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