The Arthropods!!

On Monday, Deanna took us on a behind the scenes tour of the Arthropods Exhibit. While were were walking to the tour, we were greeted by a young volunteer that had a container of hissing cockroaches! These cockroaches use air pockets on their back to make a hissing noise to serve as a line of defense. They enjoy eating rotting fruit and therefor can not live in a home. In fact, one a tiny number of cockroaches can live in your home, which has created a bad reputation for all the other types of cockroaches!

Licking A BUG!

Next, Henry from behind the scenes showed us a stick bug that give off a pepper tasting spray as its defense. Both DeAnna and Julianna were very excited to taste the bug. Henry told us hat in some countries, pizzas will come with one of these bugs cooked on top for flavor.

Thanks Again!

It was great to visit the Arthropods and learn about all the different species they keep in their tiny office space! I really enjoyed learning about the different types of spiders and where they are commonly found in North and South America. I also enjoyed seeing the species that Henry collected himself to bring into his lab.