On July 8, Ryan Bridge, better known as Ryan the Bug Man, visited the Perella Schoolhouse at the Intercourse Library to present "Let's Take an Insect Adventure!" Ryan's goal is to change attitudes toward insects with scientific facts about "the most numerous living things on the planet."

"Everybody likes bugs; they just don't know it yet," Ryan told the gathering of more than 20. "At 5 or 6 years old, we like bugs, but most adults don't like bugs and insects."

Ryan's promotional program for insects aims to slice away at the myths associated with the tiny creatures. "We're told about the horrible things that are supposed to happen (when we get near bugs), but we are not being taught the right things," he said. Ryan noted that he battles bad bug press with education. "You've heard that if you see a bee, you should be afraid because it might sting you," Ryan explained. "Well, if you grab a bee off a flower and hold it in your hand, it might sting you. But if you leave the bee alone and step back and watch the bee, nothing will happen." Ryan further explained that insects are not thinking about us. "Bugs and insects don't know you exist," he noted. "They know two things - they know food and they know threat."

According to Ryan, giving insects human characteristics endows them with emotions they are simply not capable of exhibiting. "There's no such thing as an angry bee or a happy butterfly," he pointed out. "Bugs and insects don't know what happy is." He added that there are not good bugs or bad bugs, and to demonstrate his theories, he handled a number of insects and arachnids, including a tarantula, scorpions, and cockroaches. According to Ryan, bugs have only a few simple goals. "Bugs look for food and water and to stay alive one more day," he said.

Quizzing the gathering, Ryan asked questions about the number of legs an insect has - six; the number of legs a spider, which is an arachnid, has - eight; and the number of body parts an insect has - three - a head, thorax, and abdomen. "What do insects do with their antennae?" asked Ryan, who noted that bugs smell with their antennae and taste with their feet. "Everything about an insect is about staying alive," he pointed out.

Color and camouflage are important in helping insects stay alive. Ryan displayed a case of butterflies in violet, blue, and iridescent green, explaining that females of many species are attracted to this color and that all the butterflies in the case were male. He also showed a case of moths and pointed out the markings that resemble eyes to deter predators. Ryan shared that scorpions have a special and little-known feature that helps insect enthusiasts to catch them. "I like to hunt scorpions," he noted, adding that the activity is best done at night. "I use ultraviolet light (because) true scorpions glow under ultraviolet light." Ryan demonstrated by turning off the lights and shining a light on a scorpion in his hand. "There's nothing cooler than running around in the woods making scorpions glow," he said.

Up-to-date information about library activities may be found at https://intercourselib.org. The library's Instagram handle is @intercourse_library.