Amazing Insects
Photo: H. LeStrange
Several times a year, Master Naturalist and entomologist Dr. Sarah Reilly gives hands-on programs on insects at
Powhatan State Park. Visitors learn about the importance of insects to the way our world works. They get to meet and greet live specimens of native Virginia insects, and hear their amazing stories!
Photo: R. Reilly
Photo: R. Reilly
The program starts with a nod to E. O. Wilson's 1987 paper, "The Little Things That Run the World (The Importance and Conservation of Invertebrates)."
Dr. Reilly talks about how insects and other invertebrates run the world, and why they are important to us, from their role in food webs and pollination, to the ways they inspire science and culture. Along the way, she introduces the audience to one amazing insect after another!
Photo: H. LeStrange
Overcoming fear of insects and other bugs is a major component of the program. Dr. Reilly shows people how amazing it is to watch the mesmerizing motion of millipede legs, and feel the tickle of its feet as it glides across your hand!
Photo: R. Reilly
Photo: H. LeStrange
Photo: R. Reilly
A frequent guest of honor at the program is the horned passalus beetle (Odontotaenius disjunctus), a docile decomposer of hardwood logs that has a fascinating family life!