About Us

Hi! I’m Trevor. Thank you for visiting InterestingInsects.com.

About Me

Many people have a fear of or an aversion to certain kinds of insects. I feel lucky not to be one of them. There are a wide of variety of insects in the world. And all of them are incredibly interesting. As a kid, I would watch the ants work together to haul food. I would watch the lightning bugs flash to attract mates.

Watching spiders (I know they’re not technically insects, but they’re close enough for my purposes) creating intricate webs so quickly was an incredible feat to watch. I still do find the spider’s weaving to be incredible. And now I also recognize how wise they are. They don’t spin their webs randomly. They place them on the ground or in the air in areas that they know insects will pass through!

And how awesome are the armor plating and fierce pinchers of the many beetles we have! As a little boy, they were the colorful knights of my backyard.

Of course, nothing can compare with the delicate beauty of the butterfly. From the Adonis Blue to the Monarch to the Wood White, butterflies are amazing to watch both in flight and as they feed. And they have the most interesting life cycle of all the insects.

Purpose of the Site

Whether you’re like me and simply want to learn more about amazing insects, or you have a school project that you’re working on, I hope you find this site useful. I’ve tried to provide the information that you’ll find interesting along with some tools that you’ll find helpful.

So, whether you want to observe the insects in your backyard, or bring them in for closer inspection and study, this site should help you do that. You can read my recommended resources for raising insects as an individual or family as well as on a larger scale in a school or community setting. The information on these pages should help you know what to expect from each insect we cover and provide the facts you need to appreciate these creatures better.

Of course, the insect kingdom is huge, so you can expect this site to keep growing as I add information about more of my favorites.

Inspiration from Interesting Insects

Learning about insects as an interesting type of animal instead of something to be feared or disliked can do wonders for a child’s appreciation of nature. And these interesting insects can also teach us lessons about how life works for us too.

Appreciating Variety. For instance, insects teach us about variety. There are so many types of insects! And within those types are hundreds or even thousands of species, all with their small differences. If we can learn to appreciate animal and insect species, can we learn to appreciate the differences that make humans unique from one another?

Appreciating Others. Or how about the way seemingly insignificant and bothersome insects (bugs!) play an important role in nature? No one likes being bit by mosquitoes (though they do have very interesting mouths!), but without them, the birds would have less to eat. Without birds, plants wouldn’t flourish. So, even something as small and as annoying as a mosquito does its part to support nature. If a mosquito can be a help to everyone else, maybe we can learn not to discount the contributions of other people. Or maybe we can learn that our own contributions are worthwhile in the grand scheme of things.

Working Together in Humility. Bees are some of the most cooperative and self-sacrificing insects and example of nature I’ve ever seen. A hive works under the direction of one queen to produce their young. When something threatens their young or their queen, they do everything they can to defend their hive. They even lay down their lives in the attempt because once they sting something, they lose their stinger and die. Now, I’m not saying that humans should all serve one ruler, but one thing I notice is that all of the bees are content in their position. The worker bees don’t want to be the queen. The queen doesn’t complain about her responsibility as the ruler. They all do their part in contentment. It makes me wonder if we couldn’t use a little more humility and cooperation. It makes me wonder if we shouldn’t be more willing to sacrifice for the good of our society as a whole. Yes, I think the common bee has a lot to teach us.

Remembering to be Cautious. And the insect world keeps everything in balance too. I mentioned how cunning spiders are laying their traps. And if you watch closely, each spider species is different in how they spin their webs. They have different patterns and even different strengths of silk. But even spiders with their predatory webs and venom are no match for spider wasps. Spider wasps will swoop down, pluck a spider off of its web, and carry it back to its nest to eat. Ticks can jump onto a spider’s back and suck its blood until it dies. I take that as another lesson from the insect kingdom to be humble and cautious because no matter how tall we stand as humans or as individual societies, we still need to be careful. We’re not immune to danger.

Maturing.There are many more examples I could list, but maybe the most poignant is that of butterfly metamorphosis. As I mentioned earlier, butterflies have the most interesting life cycle of any insect. From eggs to caterpillars to chrysalides to butterflies, they completely change during each stage of their transformation. It makes me think about how I want to be maturing during each stage of my life. I don’t want to stay the same. I want to grow into the best version of myself that I can be.

So, that’s what the site is about: appreciating these interesting insects and learning the lessons they can teach us. Enjoy!