From hissing cockroaches to scorpions to exotic grasshoppers, if it crawls it is surely to enthrall at the annual Insect Fair.
More than 500,000 live and preserved insects and other arthropods from around the world will be displayed on Oct. 8 and 9. This year, the Insect Fair will move from the Bronco Student Center to the university’s AGRIscapes Center (next to the Farm Store) so that it can be adjacent to the Pumpkin Festival, which runs simultaneously.
“We get huge numbers, up to 2,000 people each year,” says Dick Kaae, a plant sciences professor who helps organize the event. “It’s all about insects. It’s stuff you’ll never see anywhere else.”
Attendees will get a chance to buy honey from a beekeeper, purchase insect-themed jewelry and get up close and personal with spiders, millipedes and butterflies from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.
“Kids love insects,” Kaae says. “You name it, it’s here.”
Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for children and students with ID, and free for children younger than 2. Proceeds from the event will be used to fund student trips to locales rich in arthropods such as Costa Rica, Thailand, Indonesia and New Zealand.
For more information, call (714) 960-8022.