A Celebration of the World's Oldest Creatures

Walking up to the San Bernardino County Museum, anyone would have thought it was just a normal day for the museum. But on Saturday, March 22nd, the museum was host to a different kind of event. The annual Insectival was being held in different rooms of the museum as well as the courtyard. “My granddaughter loves bugs,” stated resident Luana Mathews. Having been to Insectival before, the two try their hardest to come every year. Insectival is an event held to celebrate the world’s oldest creatures. The event was aimed to get children interested in insects and provide hands-on experiences for both kids and their parents. There were a variety of different stations set up around the museum including; crafts, Madagascar hissing cockroach races, an exploration station for people to peek under microscopes, a butterfly exhibit, and a room that hosted an assortment of live bugs, lizards, snakes, and mice. The event was host to not only a large amount of live cockroaches, spiders, and butterflies, but also to a variety of informational vendors such as the San Bernardino Environmental Health Services Dept. of Public Health and a group from the UCR etymology department. The most popular part of the event seemed to be the education center, situated near the back of the courtyard. The center was a room of live animals, insects, and more. One wall hosted spiders, another one hosted snakes, and center aisles were home to turtles, skinks, and a variety of lizards. The room was mainly run by community volunteers such as Karen Saffle, Carla Rosenkild, and Jill Quinnell. All three ladies warmly welcomed everyone and tried to offer hands-on experiences by bringing out mice, a skink, and other creatures for people to touch. When asked what her favorite part of working at Insectival and the museum in general was, Saffle said “I like working with the school groups that come in. (The museum) is always popular with families and kids.” Although Insectival may be gone for the year, the museum is open for the rest of it and people are still encouraged to come out.