Learning to see bugs as heroes
Would you let a spider crawl across your face?
While you might shudder at the thought, bug wrangler Brian Lawton knows, that more often than not, people are more comfortable with spiders than they think.
‘‘Everyone’s got a different appreciation towards spiders – you’ve got your absolute arachnophobes who don’t want to be in the room if they’re near. Then you’ve got the people who think they’re arachnophobes but they’re not. Most people overcome their fears and hold [the spiders].’’
Some people, he said, even let spiders crawl on their faces. He tested out his fear theory recently at the launch of the exhibition Bugs: Our Backyard Heroes at Expressions Whirinaki in Upper Hutt.
Lawton, an Auckland-based bug wrangler and founder of Hands On Creatures, was there with an Australian huntsman spider for people to hold – if they dared.
‘‘Life’s full of experiences and this one’s a little outside of the comfort zone.’’
For the bugs exhibition, which runs until September 11, there will be seven live displays in specially designed terraria: ‘‘hundreds and hundreds’’ of cockroaches; one of the biggest pests in the world, the African migratory locust; black field crickets; Avondale spiders; tree wetas; two species of stick insects; and one star of the show – Eugene the giant centipede.
It may come as a surprise, but New Zealand is home to giant centipedes. Most often they’re found in native bush, hiding in something rotten and they have a ‘‘nasty bite’’.
Live bugs aren’t the only attraction of the Bugs: Our Backyard Heroes exhibition though, as interactive displays explore how important bugs are to humans.
‘‘This exhibition will change your whole view about bugs. It is getting people to think about insects in a very different way than just something ‘creepy and crawly’,’’ Expressions director Leanne Wickham said.
Biosecurity workshops, organised in part by Biosecurity New Zealand, will be run as part of the exhibition and people will have the chance to learn what good bugs are needed in the backyard and what insects are pests that endanger our ecosystem.
Bugs: Our Backyard Heroes is open at Expressions Whirinaki, 836 Fergusson Drive until September 11. Visit expressions.org.nz.