Preparing for a session
Read up on insects
Here is a helpful link from the University of Illinois Extension program that will help you and your class learn more about what makes an insect an insect.
Choosing and Shipping Specimens
Over the years we've received all kinds of specimens in all kinds of conditions. While we try to accommodate anything that you send us, here are some tips to ensure that your specimen reaches us in good condition, and that your view of it is as varied and useful as possible. Even so, if your specimen has suffered in transit, we can show a few of our own specimens so your students will still have something to look at.
- Choose bugs smaller than 1 cm. All your bugs have to fit on a 4.5 cm disc. If you are interested in observing a particular species, and if it is small enough, send two examples so we can mount one right side up and the other one upside down.
- Specialized arthropods such as ticks are more interesting than generalized species such as cockroaches. Arthropods that live in a limited range of environments, or those which are parasites, often have interesting body modifications to adapt to their particular environment.
- Fresh specimens look better than ones that have been dead for months on a window sill. Don't ship live bugs, because they can stick to the inside of the container. Let it dry out for a day or two in a large jar or in a container with a mesh cover.
- Dry arthropod specimens are very fragile. Wrap toilet paper loosely around the specimen, then put it in a film canister, small box, or pill vial. Don't pack it in cotton, because cotton fibers snag on legs and pull them off.
- Teachers should have some familiarity with the type of specimens that will be observed, so that the Bugscope viewing session is not the first exposure of the students to those specimens. See our Entomology Primer to find a link to your particular type of arthropod and learn more about the specimen. These resources can guide students to which structures they'd like to observe.
Mailing Instructions
Send all postal deliveries (insect specimens, newspaper articles about your experiment, etc.) to:
Bugscope Project c/o T. Josek
B650L Beckman Institute
405 North Mathews Ave
Urbana IL 61801 USA
Alternate Contact Info
Email us at bugscope@beckman.illinois.edu or phone +1 (217) 265-8164.
Send us a postcard!
If you found Bugscope interesting or useful to you or your classroom, drop us a snail-mail postcard! Perhaps something from your town or the area of the world where you live? Just send it to the address above.
Computer Requirements
Computer: Any type of computer can work - Windows, Mac OS, or Linux.
Software: Zoom* (please make sure it is the most up-to-date version available)
*Web Browser: If you can't download Zoom, you can usually join a Zoom session from a web browser instead. Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple's Safari, and Internet Explorer should allow you to join a Zoom session via a web browser.