A Letter from the Y.E.S. "Bugman"

Gary A. Dunn, M.S., F.R.E.S., Director of Education

Dear Students:

Each year I receive thousands of letters from students all across the United States and Canada. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the letters sent to me and I only wish that I could write back to each and every person individually, but unfortunately I am unable to do so. You see, my wife Dianna and I run the entire Young Entomologists' Society practically by ourselves and we are very busy people with a small budget, so we have to rely on creative methods of speedy communications. We spend a lot of time travelling around the United States telling people about the Young Entomologists' Society and helping them learn about insects and their arthropod relatives. I usually visit more than 150 schools and 25 teacher groups each year; I also write books and magazine articles about insects. (Have you seen my books "Discover Butterflies" and "Insects of the Great Lakes Region"?) I also care for all the live arthropods in our minibeast zoo, which includes centipedes, millipedes, crabs, insects, tarantulas, scorpions, and vinegaroons. And, in my spare time I study certain types of beetles (my favorite insects are tiger beetles and ground beetles).

I have been studying and learning about insects since 1973, when I took my first insect class at the University of New Hampshire. I had so much fun learning about insects that I decided to become an entomologist, and to spend my life working with insects. After graduating from college I moved to Michigan where I started work as an entomologist at Michigan State University. I had many jobs - I helped people with insect problems (pests and things), taught classes about insects, wrote articles and booklets, and helped 4-H entomology clubs around the state. This is how I became interested in teaching young people about insects. Now I work for the Young Entomologists' Society and spend all of my time telling students and teachers about the insect and spider world! I continue to learn about insects and spiders each and every day - by reading books and magazines, by watching new insect videos, by using exciting multimedia computer software, and by talking with other insect and spider enthusiasts. I know a lot about insects and spiders, but I doubt that I will ever know everything there is to know about them. There are just too many of them!

I hope you are having fun as you learn about insects. I think insects are the world's most amazing animals because they do so many incredible and fascinating things. I like to call insects "the little creatures that run the world" - their activities as pollinators, as food for other animals (and plants), and as decomposers/recyclers are extremely important. They are also the most numerous animals, with an estimated 10 million species and an uncountable number of individuals. (Did you know that the weight of all the ants in the world would easily surpass the combined weight of all other animal species?) And if all of this isn't enough, insects grow through a series of miraculous changes known as metamorphosis and young insects may lead an entirely different life from that of their adult counterparts.

As some of you may know we publish a "bug magazine" for kids and teachers called Insect World. I like to include some informative articles, stories, jokes, and drawings submitted by students in each issue. Why not learn more about your favorite insect and then tell others by writing about it? Do you like to draw pictures of insects or spiders? Any materials you send to me will be considered for publication in Insect World, a publication read by thousands of insect and spider enthusiasts around the world. If you want to know more about this publication, click here.

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This educational resource was prepared by the Young Entomologists Society, 6907 West Grand River Ave., Lansing MI 48906-9131, phone/fax 517-886-0630, e-mail YESbugs@aol.com.  Support minibeast youth education - join Y.E.S. today!