If you happen to be in the Tucson area this weekend, I hope you’ll come out to the Arizona Insect Festival on Saturday morning from 8AM – noon! The festival is a new event for the University of Arizona and brings together most of the Department of Entomology, the Entomology and Insect Science graduate students, and a whole bunch of local entomologists and insect enthusiasts from outside the University to celebrate the pure, unadulterated gloriousness of insects. The event is free and there’s something for everyone. Bring your kids for some fun, hands-on activities including Build-a-Bug and the Insect Olympics. Don’t have kids? No problem! There are still many things to do, including sampling insect cuisine, learning about insects in one of several interactive booths, and getting up close and personal with a slew of live Sonoran Desert insects at the Insect Zoo. It’s going be a really fun event! And there’s even free parking in the Tyndall, Park, and Main Gate garages if you arrive before 11AM.
I know this comes as a shock, but I’ll be working with aquatic insects (I know – big surprise!) in the Insect Zoo. If you happen to come to the festival, I hope you’ll stop by the aquatics area and say hi!
Want more information (details about the different activities/booths, parking maps, etc)? Check out one of the following websites!
The official Arizona Insect Festival website
The AZ Insect Festival Facebook Page
UA News article about the event
Hope to see you there!
_______________
Unless otherwise stated, all text, images, and video are copyright ©TheDragonflyWoman.com
The Dragonfly Woman 
We’re in Kentucky- This is the third time in less than a month that our back yard (we are in town with houses quite close)… This afternoon I estimated there were between 20-40 flying around. As of right now-they haven’t attracted birds, but two weeks ago they were all over the dragonflies. We don’t have water feature except a bird bath, but have a very prolific vegetable garden/fruit trees, etc. I can’t see them over other houses, so suppose the bugs are what is attracting them (we’ve had a wet year and my grass needs to be mowed and I had two dogs – yard is privacy fenced). Thought I may try someone at U. Kentucky as we had an “albino” robin which piqued their interest a couple of years ago.
Fun! I’m envious you’ve gotten to see several swarms in a month. Consider yourself lucky!
I sent this information to my Dad, who is retired and lives in Tucson. Unfortunately, he seems less than enthusiastic about sampling the insect cuisine.
Well, can’t say I blame him. I will not be sampling myself. I don’t eat bugs myself, though it’s for textural reasons and not because I think eating insects is any more gross than eating other meats. There will be lots of other activities though! And you don’t HAVE to eat a bug to enjoy the festival. :)
Had a blast at the festival! Too bad that Hercules beetle got away. It was nice meeting you, as well. :)
I hadn’t heard about the Hercules beetle! Seems like one always gets away at these events. Maybe they decide that they just can’t take being handled anymore and yell, “I’m outta here suckas” (in Hercules beetle of course, so we wouldn’t understand) and fly off. :) (Okay, okay, so I like to anthropomorphize my insects. Bad habit, but it’s so entertaining!)
Gad you liked the festival – and good to meet you too!