Roaches race, bees buzz at BugFest

Rose Ashby, 9, picked a maggot up with tweezers, dipped it in bright pink paint and watched it crawl around a piece of paper, creating a one-of-a-kind bug design.

After cleaning off the maggot in a cup of water, the third-grader with a bright blue butterfly painted across her face anxiously awaited for her favorite event during Saturday’s UF BugFest: the cockroach race.

“My favorite bug is a cockroach,” Ashby said. “I really want to get a hissing cockroach as a pet, but my parents won’t let me.

Ashby was one of about 450 insect-lovers and bug-curious gatherers at the annual event, hosted by UF Entomology Club in Steinmetz Hall. This year’s theme was Fantastic Bugs and Where to Find Them. Along with the cockroach race, participants got close to a beehive and listened to seminars. The event cost $935, paid for with Student Government funds, said BugFest director Sage Thompson.

Thompson, 21, said she was happy with the turnout and liked showing children how to use microscopes to look at the bugs. She said her favorite bug is a stink bug.

“They can’t bite you, they can’t sting you and they smell like cilantro,” the UF entomology senior said.

At the cockroach race, Michael Gonzalez, a 25-year-old UF entomology master’s student, wore a giant cockroach costume while encouraging a group of about six Girl Scouts to race male Madagascar hissing cockroaches.

“On your mark, get set, go,” Gonzalez yelled at the roaches. “Oh wow, look how fast he’s going.”

The roaches had the end of thumbtacks glued onto their exoskeleton, holding a string attached to a toy tractor. The roaches ran across a divided track, dragging the tractors behind them.

Colorful beetles and other tropical species are displayed in the "Forbidden Forest" exhibit at BugFest.

 

The 1616 Starke, Florida Girl Scout troop warmed up to the bugs and took turns letting the insects crawl across their arms, while squirmish adults stayed away from the race track.

In the “Forbidden Jungle” room, live scorpions and spiders were displayed, including a black widow spider and a tailless whip scorpion.

At the front of the room in a cage decorated with bird skulls was a Brazilian salmon pink bird-eater named Megadeath, a hand-sized tarantula.

Participants in groups of about 16 also put on beekeeper attire to get close to a small Italian honey beehive with about 6,000 bees, said Austin Rankin, a member of UF’s Honey Bee Club.

Rankin, a 20-year-old UF sustainability and the built environment sophomore, said he began beekeeping a year ago to get over his fear of bees. Now, he happily holds panels with hundreds of bees in his bare hands to educate kids about the dying insects.

“I think it’s really good to get kids out here because there isn’t a lot of environmental education,” he said. “(Bees are) not something to be afraid of.”

Contact Paige Fry at pfry@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @paigexfry

Emily Tran, a 20-year-old UF graphic design junior, holds a vinegaroon. The arachnid expels acetic acid when it feels threatened, which smells like vinegar.