Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Science’s Department of Entomology and Virginia Cooperative Extension are hosting five bug-centric events this fall in five Virginia locales: Montgomery County, Pulaski County and Radford, as well as Henrico County and Virginia Beach.
One of Virginia Tech’s largest science outreach events of the year, Hokie BugFest, returns for a 12th year on Saturday, Oct. 8, from 10 am to 3 pm in Squires Student Center in Blacksburg. (A special pre-opening from 9 to 10 am is reserved for people with mobility or other special needs.)
“We are thrilled to be back in person after two years of online programming during the pandemic,” said festival organizer and Department of Entomology faculty member Daniel Frank.
This year’s event boasts more than 30 exhibitors, including Virginia Tech labs, area museums, community groups and industry experts. Visitors will enjoy hands-on activities, working bee hives, a bug library, 3D insects and plenty of live arthropods including scorpions, blue death feigning beetles, tarantulas, millipedes, hissing cockroaches and more.
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Virginia Tech bug festivals are free community events that invite visitors and school children to learn about science through the fascinating and important world of entomology. Topics range from pollinators and urban pests to aquatic insects and forensic entomology. University and community experts will be on hand to answer questions and share their own excitement about bugs.
“Our goals are to inspire the next generation of scientists and showcase the importance of insects worldwide,” said Frank. “And what better vehicle to evoke curiosity than the vibrant, often alien-looking, extreme world of bugs.”
In Pulaski County and Radford, third- and fourth-graders had a chance to take part in an in-school Hokie BugFest from Sept. 8-29. Hokie BugFest on the Go visited 42 classes and more than 700 students and 50 teachers or administrators at six schools in these NRV localities.
Hokie BugFest On the Go is a traveling field trip program that brings BugFest from Virginia Tech into the classroom. For one hour, small groups learn all about entomology, meet live arthropods from the Hokie BugZoo, and work with graduate students and university faculty and staff. All participants receive activity booklets to help reinforce concepts after the event.
For those who cannot attend an event in-person, Virtual Hokie BugFest will offer an online bug-world from October through May 2023. Visit hokiebugfest.org to view videos, photo galleries, downloadable activities and fun facts about bugs.
Created in 2020 to keep festivalgoers safe during the pandemic, Virtual Hokie BugFest reached more than 10,000 unique viewers in 2020 and 2021, and this success has kept it going in 2022.
Along with this year’s programs in Henrico County and Virginia Beach, Hokie bug festivals showcase Virginia Tech’s motto of Ut Prosim (That I May Serve) and the College of Agriculture and Life Science’s commitment to science education and outreach statewide.
Virginia Tech Hokie bug festivals are sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences through Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech Pesticide Programs, as well as many community partners.
– Submitted by James Mason, Virginia Tech
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