Buggier Days

Common Bed Bug (Cimex lectularius)

I am frequently gifted bugs and sometimes they are not welcome bugs. We find all sorts of things at school. Staff found this bed bug and asked me to confirm their identification of it. Proper action has been taken at school. 

I brought the bed bug home and euthanized it in the freezer and was going to photograph it here. But I had a brainstorm and took it back to school and my pre-K/K class observed it under magnifying lenses. They were then told to draw and color what they observed (we have been learning how to make journal drawings of insects, so this was perfect). I photographed it. We compared it to photos of bed bugs on iNaturalist and the class agreed that it was a bed bug. My job was done! It was a great day . . . except now they want a bug every day! I suggested that they collect what they see (no killing allowed unless it is on our "bad bug" list). I handed out collection containers. We spent the rest of the class reading about the bug and discussed the symptoms of their bites and the dangers of them.

Our bad bug list includes those bugs, in Vermont, that are dangerous to human health: mosquitoes, bed bugs, lice, ticks, and black flies (which usually do not harm us like the others can but I hate them passionately). 

Common Bed Bug (Cimex lectularius)

Common Bed Bug (Cimex lectularius)

I was so pleased to see such realistic depictions in such young children.

The very next morning, we investigated a Pale Green Assassin Bug nymph found at a student's home. The kids were wicked happy. They used magnifying glasses, felt it crawl on their hands, and released it safely out the back door. I was very happy because I seldom see assassin bugs in the wild. And a nymph? Priceless.

Nymph of Pale Green Assassin Bug (Zelus luridus)

Finally, on Thursday, we had an earwig. They are pesky bugs but not dangerous to our health. It was found in school and all the staff were surprised that it was found so early in the season: we usually find them in August and September. It certainly has not been hot enough for us to consider they would be around. We followed the same format: magnifying lenses, holding it, releasing it, and a journal drawing followed by reading and discussion.

European Earwig (Forficula auricularia)
I am confident that this is a female.

I am now developing a Bad Bug unit for school and have ordered tick handouts from the state for each child in every class. I realized that we spend so much time with pretty bugs—the Monarchs, the bees—that we ignore the true dangers that some bugs hold for us. It's important that the kids have this information. With sunshine, longer days, a tiny bit of warmth, colors, and now emerging bugs, the days have become very pleasant.

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