Coexisting with bugs
Keywords - invertebrates, bugs, pollinators, science communication, fear, disgust, ecosystem services, taxonomic bias, myths, myth-busting, fact-checking, misinformation
Introduction
Outside of honeybees and their services as pollinators, most people do not recognize the importance of bugs to the health of our planet. Many other pollinators—such as flies, ants, and beetles—are more often seen as pests despite their contributions to our gardens, landscaping, and agriculture. Worms, maggots, and millipedes may be disgusting to some, but without them, putrid, decaying plant and animal matter would litter the landscape. Even spiders, wasps, and centipedes, some of the most unwelcome many-legged houseguests, are helping us by eating dangerous pests like mosquitoes, as well as crop pests that might be resistant to pesticides. Bugs are an important part of our lives, providing often unrecognized services in medicine, culture, and leisure activities. In fact, bugs are so important that famed biologist E. O. Wilson called them “the little things that run the world,” and said that “If invertebrates were to disappear, I doubt the human species could last more than a few months” (Wilson, 1987).
If bugs are so important, why do so many humans fear them enough to squish them indiscriminately on sight? Humans’ instinctual response to the unknown is fear, as fear can keep us safe from uncertain situations (Schaller, 2006). But fear also puts distance between us and the unknown, which prevents us from learning about it. This creates a feedback loop of fear and ignorance that gives rise to stereotypes such as “wasps want to sting people” and “spiders are very venomous and aggressive towards humans” (Ward, 2020). Disgust also plays a role in our aversion to bugs. Unlike fear, which protects us from immediate danger, disgust prevents us from touching or ingesting things that may make us sick. Some bugs are associated with potentially pathogenic materials (such as flies and carrion), and it is very easy to generalize that association to other bugs (Prokop et al., 2010). Together, fear and disgust comprise the “behavioral immune system,” a collection of behaviors that keep us safe (Schaller, 2006). Unfortunately, sometimes the behavioral immune system works too well and makes us avoid things that are not actually dangerous—like bugs, the vast majority of which never actually make contact with us, and of which only a handful of species pose actual harm to us (Gerdes et al., 2009).
Several theories have been proposed as to how we acquire specific fear and disgust. The first and perhaps most well known is the biological preparedness theory, which suggests that we have inherited certain fears from our ancestors who survived due to natural selection (Seligman, 1971). This theory has come under scrutiny after continued research found that fears are more likely learned in early childhood. Cultural transmission can perpetuate stereotypes about bugs by passing them down through multiple generations of society (Gerdes et al., 2009), and vicarious learning can influence children’s reactions to bugs as they observe their parents and caregivers’ negative reactions (Reynolds et al., 2015). Aside from the popular evolutionary and learning hypotheses, the error management theory suggests that, when faced with an unknown, it is simply safer to avoid it and everything that looks like it rather than risk it being dangerous, even if some or all things like it may be harmless (Haselton & Nettle, 2006).
Regardless of which of these theories is correct or applicable to bug fears, it is clear that the widespread fear of bugs is detrimental to invertebrate conservation. It might not be quite as serious if these fears only applied to the general public, but taxonomic bias—the tendency of research to be disproportionate to the actual frequency of the organism in nature—also exists amongst scientists and research funding organizations. Large, charismatic animals like tigers, pandas, and polar bears get priority for funding and research (Simberloff, 1998), despite invertebrates comprising about 97% of animal life on Earth (Clark & May, 2002; National Geographic Society, 2012). Even entomologists have a surprising bias against spiders (Vetter, 2013). People’s behavior is based on their attitudes, societal norms, and whether they believe they are capable of performing the behavior (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975; Ajzen, 1985). So if a majority of both scientists and laypeople are afraid of or disgusted by bugs, the chances of any of them taking conservation action on behalf of invertebrates is very slim. Luckily, the same psychological principles behind fear and behavior can be used to create empathy, affinity, and kinship with uncharismatic organisms like bugs, which have been shown to inspire conservation behavior (Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002; Monroe, 2003; Qirko, 2017).
With all this in mind, I crafted my Master Plan— Project Dragonfly’s equivalent of a master’s thesis. Rather than creating a single final paper for the Master Plan, we compile a portfolio of all our projects throughout the program, all guided by one conservation or sustainability goal. For my Master Plan, I decided to use my psychology background to create educational outreach opportunities that help others understand why bugs are so important, how our psychology and personal biases affect our fear of bugs, and bust common myths about the dangers they pose to us. Inspired by the Facebook group that helped me cure my bug phobias, I have worked mostly online, first gathering knowledge on the roles bugs play in the environment and the mechanisms of fear psychology, then creating proof of concept research studies and educational materials that can be easily shared or implemented online. My Master Plan culminated in a partnership with science-communication duo The Bug ChicksⓇ on an elementary school curriculum that teaches STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) and SEL (social and emotional learning) skills through homemade props, skits, and tabletop game mechanics. This portfolio details my journey through these projects toward a greater understanding of my own fears, how bug fears affect conservation, and what to do about it.Inquiry and Independent Research
When I started this program, I wanted to set a baseline of research and inquiry demonstrating the importance of bugs to the planet and both the environmental and human variables they interact with. These projects allowed me to acclimate to the structure of the program while answering questions I had about some of the bugs I love most.
Flower Color Preference in Native Ohio Bees
At the beginning of my master’s program, I dove into the science behind the importance of bugs to a healthy Earth. At the time, I was very interested in pollinators, and especially native bees, who actually do a great majority of the pollination that gives us food and flowers. For this project, we had to design and execute our own experiment on a topic of our choice. Another one of my Facebook groups had been debating for years about what color of flowers bees like most, so I decided to find out for myself. For 12 days, I observed three flower gardens on my property three times a day. I took rapid photos of each flower and counted the number of individual bees and taxonomic bee families visiting warm-colored flowers (red, orange, yellow), and cool-colored flowers (blue, pink, purple). Using a chi-square analysis, I was able to determine whether each major bee family had a flower color preference, as well as whether one color attracted more individual bees than another.
I found a few color preferences amongst some bees. Bumblebees and leafcutter bees both preferred warm-colored flowers, while small carpenter bees preferred cool-colored flowers. The other families of bees either did not show a statistically significant preference, or there were not enough data points for the family to analyze. There were a large number of small bees that were unidentifiable due to their small size and close physical similarity of many different species. However, these unidentified bees did show a preference for cool-colored flowers, which could mean that they all belonged to a single family of bees. I learned a lot about study design from this assignment, like making sure to consider all possible obstacles to data collection and running a trial collection first. An instructor also pointed out to me that there are more variables involved in flower choice by pollinators, including flower shape, nectar load, and proximity to other plants and landscape elements. This realization changed how I approach study design, as I now know to do a little more preliminary research to make sure I am controlling for as many variables as possible.
While the actual project did not produce very reliable results, it was a good first exercise in study design that opened my eyes to a lot of easy pitfalls. Had the experiment been better designed, the results could have informed future research and habitat restoration projects in terms of native bee conservation. I do not have any plans to follow up on this project at this time, but if I did, the next steps would be to repeat the experiment with controls for other variables, such as using two different colors of the same species of plant and seeing if the bees have a preference between them. It is clear that doing this experiment in a wild or garden environment would be very difficult because of the huge amount of confounding variables present. Even though it did not turn out exactly as planned, I appreciate what I learned from this project and how it influenced my approach to subsequent projects.
The Future of Food Waste Disposal: Black Soldier Fly Larvae
In the last few years, I have implemented three different composting systems to handle the large amount of produce waste my household generates. So while learning about sustainability and carbon footprints in class, I investigated food waste and its impact on the environment. Food waste decomposing in landfills releases large amounts of methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas, and is responsible for 8% of all greenhouse gas emissions (Mitloehner, 2020). As a household of three adults, each with very different diets, a lot of leftovers and pre-packaged foods unfortunately go to waste, and I wanted to do a project that would reduce the amount of food waste we put into landfills. Most people probably wouldn’t turn to bugs to find a solution to this problem, but thanks to some of my gardening groups online, I knew exactly where to look: black soldier flies (Hermetia illucens). The voracious larvae of this beneficial, non-pest fly species (commonly referred to as BSFL) can quickly eat their way through large amounts of food waste, breaking it down into compost much faster than if it were left to compost on its own, which greatly reduces the amount of greenhouse gas it produces (Mertenat et al., 2019). BSFL will also eat foods that other decomposers like worms have a hard time processing, such as dairy, meats, fats, and grains. Armed with this knowledge, I measured my household’s weekly non-produce food waste (about 2.5 gallons), crafted a simple compost bin out of a 32-gallon plastic container, and waited for the BSFL native to my yard to show up and take the bait.
With this new compost method, I successfully reduced my household’s food waste to nearly zero (excluding bones), and the BSFL bin processed a total of 50 gallons of food waste over five weeks. Using greenhouse gas measurements from previous literature (Mertenat et al., 2019), I calculated that I potentially reduced emissions from my food waste by between 97 and 99% by using BSFL to process it rather than letting it sit in a landfill. The 32-gallon bin easily kept up with all of our food waste, and could have handled much more, which makes it a promising and cost-effective method for composting large quantities of waste with a minimal carbon footprint. After a brief period of time when I was unable to check on the bin, a heat wave killed off most of the larvae in the bin, which gave me the opportunity to look further into the scarce research and hobbyist groups to find a better placement for the bin that would protect the BSFL from the elements while still allowing them the freedom to come and go as they pleased. It was a good lesson in flexibility, and luckily, the BSFL quickly repopulated the bin and were able to catch up with the remaining food waste volume.
Before embarking on this project, I was unaware that composting using invertebrates had the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as much as it apparently does. I had been vermicomposting (using worms to process food waste) for years, and never stopped to think that they would reduce emissions by consuming the bacteria that produce greenhouse gasses, but the fact that vermicomposting is odorless is a good indicator. The work I did on this project helped me sharpen my critical thinking skills and pay closer attention to seemingly unrelated variables. Due to the success of this proof of concept, I continue to use this composting method to process most of my food waste today, and learn something new about it every season. I have plans to use what I learned about BSFL and other composting methods to create a series of infographics and videos about composting for my blog, and hopefully other publications as well. I have great interest in furthering research on arthropod-mediated composting to help address the global food waste problem, including the safety of the use of BSF pupae as animal feed, the feasibility of large-scale operations, and the overall nutritional and microbial content of the fertilizer the BSFL produce. This project was a perfect example of how bugs are useful to maintaining a healthy planet, even those that are often deemed “gross” by the general public. Once I established this fact in my master’s degree journey, I knew I could not accomplish my goal of making bugs less scary without understanding why so many people find them scary. So my next step was to take a deep dive into the psychology of fear.Fear and Disgust Toward Arthropods in Children and Adults
For my next study design assignment, I felt like before I went deep into the psychology of fear, I first needed to lay some groundwork that showed that people actually are afraid of or disgusted by bugs. In my preliminary literature search, I found several contrasting studies claiming that specific fears were either inherited or acquired during childhood, but most of the more recent research lends evidence to the latter. The current consensus seems to be that specific animal fears develop between the ages of about 10 to 13 (Weems & Costa, 2005), perhaps due to children witnessing their parents’ and caretakers’ negative reactions to triggers like bugs (Reynolds et al., 2015). To test this hypothesis, I spent a weekend observing visitors to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s “World of the Insect” exhibit. For each visitor that passed through, I recorded their approximate age (i.e., child or adult), and their reactions—either positive or negative—to the invertebrates on display. If the hypothesis that children learn their fears is correct, then I expected to see more adults showing negative reactions to the bugs than children.
I found that adults were split almost equally between positive and negative reactions to the bugs, while children were about twice as likely to have positive reactions than negative reactions. While these results do seem to confirm the current scientific consensus, I realized after discussing the project with my peers that the data may have been skewed by the fact that visitors voluntarily entered the World of the Insect exhibit, which may mean that they actually wanted to see the bugs. More accurate results might have been obtained in a more controlled study where participants do not know they will be seeing bugs until they show up.
I am glad that my results seem to corroborate the existing literature, but I would still like to repeat this experiment to better control for several variables. First of all, I did not include the butterfly exhibit in this study because butterflies are largely seen as beautiful and not scary, and I had limited time to collect data, so I stayed in the main area of the World of the Insect to get the most data. I would love to see if the numbers are drastically different when butterflies are included. I would also like to include another category for “teenagers,” to get a more complete picture of how age affects fear. Finally, I would like to examine how gender roles affect people’s reactions to bugs. Are women really more scared of bugs than men? Does peer pressure to appear more “feminine” or “masculine” influence how people choose to react to bugs physically? Answers to these questions could help differentiate behavior from actual feelings about bugs, information that would help conservationists better communicate with a wider audience. As it is, this project still contributed fear development data to my Master Plan that backs up both previous literature and my own observations that adults tend to be more scared of or disgusted by bugs than do children.Science Communication
Science communication (sometimes abbreviated to "sci-comm") is the practice of transforming dense, technical science information into a form easily understandable to the general public. While bugs are my academic focus, science communication is my passion, and when I am not communicating the many wonders and benefits of bugs, I frequently translate medical studies for friends, family, and my disability support group. These projects helped me hone my sci-comm skills in preparation for a career in science writing and content creation.
The Unseen Earth: Why Our Fear of Bugs is Threatening the Planet
At this point in my master’s program, we were assigned an authorship leadership challenge, where we had to rework one of our previous papers in preparation for publication. This article was a combination of two of my previous papers that covered the two main topics of my master plan—the importance of bugs and why humans tend to fear them. The first section of the paper addresses the psychology of human fear and disgust, how it affects invertebrate conservation, and why bugs in particular are such frequent objects of fear. The second section explains why we should care that our fear affects the ability of researchers to make good headway on invertebrate conservation, and what crucial services bugs provide in maintaining a healthy planet and functioning human society. The final section suggests psychology-backed methods for improving the public image of bugs through education, outreach, and empathy, so that we can continue to enjoy their many benefits.
I consider this piece the foundation of my master plan, as it thoroughly summarizes the two main topics I wanted to address and science-backed solutions to the problem. My intent was for it to be an “instruction manual” for educators and scientists to examine their own human biases and hopefully be more willing to use their platforms to advocate for open-mindedness toward and funding for invertebrate conservation. My biggest obstacle in writing this piece was in the merging of my two previous papers; in order to come in under the maximum word count for most science publications, I had to edit out a lot of fascinating and pertinent information that could have better supported my argument. However, this process was extremely useful in learning how to identify the key important concepts in a large body of literature, which will be a very important skill for me as I forge my path as a science writer.
This article provides a good foundation for future research and conservation work. I would still like to take another stab at getting this article or the two papers it stems from published. I may need to find a different kind of publication, or break it up into a series to make it more easily digestible for readers. I am also open to taking a more creative turn with it and turning it into a blog or video series that would be more suited to sharing on social media. What’s important is that more people are made aware of how our psychology can influence not only our broader conservation actions, but also the everyday interactions we have with bugs.
Keep Calm and Cicada On: Brood X is coming!
The last Brood X 17-year cicada emergence in 2004 was one of the most entertaining summers of my life. These insects spend 17 years underground as larvae, and then emerge en masse from the soil, first as pupae and then as large winged adults. As a young bug enthusiast, getting to interact with thousands of huge insects every day was thrilling. That is why when my academic advisor contacted me in the spring of 2021 to ask if I could write an article on cicadas for the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s blog, I was more than happy to oblige. This was a great opportunity to dip my toes into writing science for a general audience, as well as busting bug myths and fears. The article was basically a “how to survive Brood X” guide for anyone who was feeling worried about the coming swarm. I started with a short narrative of my personal experiences with cicadas, and then, using the latest research and cicada life history, systematically addressed all the common fears about cicadas, such as, “Can they hurt me?” and, “Will they eat my garden?” Finally, I connected the cicada emergence with the circle of life and the perpetuation of other organisms to impart a more positive connotation to these amazing insects.
This is the kind of writing I hope to do for a living. I love being able to connect with people on a personal, human level in order to help the science content be better received. I also got to experience working with outside organizations to create tailored content, a skill that will help me in future freelance writing. This piece will stand as an example of the quality of writing publishers can expect from me.
I was happy to see a handful of comments on my blog post from people who were somewhat reassured by it. While I cannot make everyone a bug enthusiast with just one article, if I can just assuage some fears and give people a different perspective, I consider my writing a success. The next step was to see if I could translate science communication into actively teaching science.
A Brood X cicada from the 2021 emergence
Developing Curricula for Youth
While I hope to reach people across all demographics with my science outreach, it is undeniable that instilling a love of bugs (and nature in general) in children is important to preserving these organisms for the next generation. To really put my sci-comm skills to the test and try out some teaching ideas I had, I decided to dive into creating lesson plans and curricula for children.
Heartland Farm Sanctuary "Bug Week" Summer Camp Curriculum
A major challenge to this project was a lack of communication. The camp director did not provide useful feedback on my first curriculum draft, and there were a lot of last-minute changes to the way the camp was run that I did not learn about for several weeks, so I had to rush to make appropriate adjustments to the curriculum. This lack of communication also meant that I did not get much feedback on how the kids responded to the curriculum, although she did let me know that they loved the wasp activity and had a lot of good questions, and even modified the game for a second play-through using different variables. Even though there are things I would do differently next time, this project was a good lesson in flexibility in the face of communication issues, which will be an asset as I continue to collaborate with diverse individuals and organizations.
I am not sure if I will do another camp curriculum again any time soon, but many of the techniques I used to make this curriculum engaging will be used for another curriculum I am working on. While I could not be there in person at Heartland Farm Sanctuary to see how or if the campers had any great bug-related revelations, I still consider their reaction to the wasp game a success. That alone made me very proud, as it showed that my curriculum inspired curiosity and inquiry, which is the goal of all the outreach I do. This curriculum serves as a good proof of concept for other teaching ideas I have been thinking about. More importantly, it proved that I actually can teach, even if this first attempt was difficult and stressful.
Elementary school SEL + STEAM curriculum with The Bug ChicksⓇ
Shortly after completing my summer camp curriculum, I secured an internship with The Bug ChicksⓇ, entomologists Kristie Reddick and Jessica Honaker, who make funny educational videos and do live presentations and workshops all over the country to show kids how amazing bugs are. Our initial plan was to create an AR (altered reality) mobile phone application similar to the popular Pokemon Go! game that would let users search their surroundings for bugs to learn about, but after working with Kristie, Jess, and their undergraduate intern for several weeks, we all realized that this project would exclude underrepresented and marginalized communities that both The Bug Chicks and Project Dragonfly strive to reach with their educational materials. After a few months, we put the AR project on the backburner and started from scratch with the goal of making an elementary school curriculum that could be implemented without the use of technology or expensive materials. This new curriculum will use elements of tabletop games, role playing, and homemade props to allow students to teach each other about bugs, while incorporating important STEAM and SEL skill development that is too often absent in today’s classrooms.
We are far from releasing the final product, but I have already learned so much from this experience. Kristie and Jess have taught me about navigating the professional academic world, including how to nail an interview, how to negotiate a salary/commission, and knowing when to reach out to other professionals for assistance. I could not have asked for kinder or more intelligent mentors. I have also become good friends with their undergraduate intern, and have been able to mentor and support her in her academic pursuits while collaborating on this project. The finished product will be the perfect culmination of my master’s work in creating outreach materials to inspire inquiry and peaceful coexistence with bugs. This is exactly the kind of work I have wanted to do since beginning my Master Plan, and it has already opened doors to future projects and collaborations.
A mockup of one of the insect cards to be used in the curriculum.
[Note: This image contains photos and clipart that may be copyrighted. This is only a mockup, and the final published version will use only original photos and graphics.]
Conclusion
With the completion of this last curriculum project, I will consider my Master Plan a success. I set out to create online and easily accessible content that engages people with bugs and encourages a more peaceful coexistence with “the little things that run the world” (Wilson, 1987). Between these seven projects and my other classwork, I have been able to communicate the importance of bugs to a wide audience, and have even “turned” some of my most diehard bug-hating friends into at least bug allies, if not enthusiasts. This journey was not without obstacles and difficulties. While literature reviews and writing endlessly about dense scientific topics was my forte, it was very stressful to live up to my own expectations of the quality of my work. Finding inspiration for creative projects during the age of COVID, social and political unrest, and personal chronic illness struggles was nearly impossible, and I relied heavily on bouncing ideas around with my classmates, instructors, and family members. Study design was also surprisingly difficult. While I am pretty good at figuring out how to collect the cleanest data possible, there were a handful of variables I somehow overlooked in my projects that I now know to watch out for. I am also extremely bad at math, which is a very important part of research, but Project Dragonfly’s resident statistics expert was able to coach me through the equations for my few number-dense projects.
I started out my master’s journey with a pretty good understanding of the biological aspects of bugs and their contributions to the planet, although I certainly learned an awful lot more detail and interesting cross-disciplinary connections throughout the program. What was completely new to me was the sociopolitical issues surrounding conservation as a whole. While I was not able to fully address these issues in most of my graduate work due to personal circumstances, they became very apparent throughout every assignment and every piece of literature I read. Before Dragonfly, I was somewhat cynical and pretty pessimistic about humans’ reasons for wantonly squishing bugs. By the end of the program, I came to realize that it is less about stubborn, voluntary ignorance, and more about systemic pressures enforcing and even incentivizing ignorance. My guess is that most people would not generally think “the man” has any significant influence on whether people love or hate bugs, but when the system suppresses access to good quality education, there is little opportunity to change one’s mind about much of anything, let alone which bugs should and should not be stepped on. My own journey started with my intense fear of spiders and wasps, and education was my way out of that fear. But I am extremely privileged and had access to good education throughout my life; even though I came to my revelation about my fears via a Facebook group, I do not think I would have been in the right mindset to see the same success if I had been born into a different demographic. I regret not being able to address this systemic disparity more thoroughly in my master’s work, but I fully intend to take the lesson with me into future endeavors, starting with the Bug Chicks curriculum project.
My realization about the systemic barriers to education and conservation was so eye-opening that it actually changed my political views. They say college turns everyone into liberals, but I have come to realize it is because in college, you learn to think critically and “do your own research.” No one forced me to change my political values, I was just given the skills to make up my own mind based on reliable sources of information. Moving forward, I do not see how I can continue my work without considering the systemic societal issues at work behind education and science. I will never be able to unsee it, which is both good (intellectually and empathetically) and horrible (for my blood pressure). This realization will ultimately make me a better communicator and educator, but I recognize that I still have a lot of work to do in terms of reconciling my personal feelings about society in order to not let them affect the efficacy of my communication. While I still have a lot of growing to do, I am more confident in my professional abilities and in networking and collaborating than I was when I started my first semester. One-sided group projects throughout high school and undergrad made me somewhat skeptical of trying to collaborate with my peers, but working with classmates in Project Dragonfly made me realize that I just had not found my academic peers until now. I actually enjoy the collaborative process now and intend to keep seeking out other creative minds to share ideas with.
As for the next steps in my career, I am looking forward to a fruitful partnership with The Bug Chicks for at least the next year. My hope is that our elementary school curriculum will be successful enough to warrant future collaborations. They have offered to take me with them to the Amazon, where they do bug outreach and research, and film videos for their website and other educational programs. This would be an incredible opportunity, and I hope to be able to take them up on the offer. I also plan to start some freelance science writing. In addition to bugs and conservation issues, I am also very passionate about healthcare, fair treatment of disabled and minority patients, and dispelling medical myths. I can see myself writing on a wide variety of science topics for pretty much any audience. If time allows, I would like to pick up working on the bug blog I started for one of my classes, where readers can send in their bug questions to be answered on the blog. It is currently in desperate need of a good graphic and web designer, but I have big plans for future multimedia content that will engage more viewers and create more opportunities to interact with me and the blog. After all, my plan at the beginning of this journey was to help people appreciate bugs and conquer their fears, and I cannot do that without listening to people’s input. Ultimately, invertebrate conservation—and, indeed, all conservation—is dependent on human buy-in. Clearly, the psychology degree I thought I had wasted four years on was the best preparation for the rest of my academic career I could have asked for.
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