Q: How do I know if my kid is a bug nerd?

A: If, at birthday parties, the featured game is "pin-the-stinger-on-the-bee."

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your intrepid blogger, circa 1985

You may thank my mother for sending along this, um, interesting photo.

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I am happy to see that you turned out to become a "normal" person :-) ...I once baked a Dung Beetle Cake for my son's birthday party.

I am so happy to see another entomologist with a photo like this! My mom sent me a photo a few years back of me and my sister (who no longer likes bugs) playing with Cotinus mutabilis, also in 1985. We used to tie strings to their legs and have them fly in circles around our heads all summer. We're dressed in tutus and gellies, what we considered high fashion at the time, as we play with our beetles in the photo - an interesting juxtaposition of girlie girl and tomboy!

Love the photo!

Top 5 reasons to know your kid is a bug nerd:

5. All of their Pokémon are insect types, and they have named their Scythor "Pikachu".

4. They organize sit-ins in front of your neighbour's house to protest their ant traps. All the ant traps in your house are blocked off by little fences made of toothpicks.

3. They have a subscription to "Boy's Live" magazine - but only because they confused it with the movie "A Bug's live".

2. They call Yu-Gi-Oh "that show about Weevil Underwood".

And the No. 1 reason to know that your kid is a bug nerd:

1. You tell what, precisely, honey actually is, and that makes them like it more.

By Philip IV (not verified) on 09 May 2010 #permalink

The neighbors begin referring to you as the "bug-omologist" shortly after your 5th birthday.

By James C. Trager (not verified) on 09 May 2010 #permalink

Alex,
Did you grow up in Maine? I believe it was standard issue for young boys growing up in Maine (I had at least three of them at that age).

By Joshua King (not verified) on 10 May 2010 #permalink

Josh- Upstate New York. With a week in Maine every summer. But this one was NY. Incidentally, this shot was taken at a site that is positively drowning in Amblyopone.

Alex,
Oh yeah? Where (you can email me if you'd rather not have it public)? I'm looking for good sites in the upstate NY, CT, MA region for the coming years.

By Joshua King (not verified) on 10 May 2010 #permalink