Bug Note Episode 16: Why People and Museums Collect Bugs
About Episode 16
There are more than a billion living insects for every person on Earth — and dozens of species living in the average home. But for some people, simply living alongside insects isn’t enough. They want to collect them.
On this episode of Bug Note, host Daniel Potter talks about why people collect insects with Christy Bills, NHMU’s Invertebrate Collections Manager, and Dr. Jason Cryan, NHMU’s Sarah B. George Executive Director, who also happens to be an entomologist. Listen to the podcast here or scroll down to watch the video version.
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Though many professionals collect insects, and museums worldwide preserve and study them, Bills teaches that insect collecting isn’t limited to the academic world.
“It’s an inexpensive hobby. Insects are all around us,” Bills says. These hobby collections, when documented and preserved properly, can become valuable to professionals.
Over the years, NHMU has inherited many collections from community members who carefully documented the insects around them — simply because they loved nature. These collectors appreciate the world and approach their collections in different ways.
“Some people are generalists,” Cryan says. “They love insect diversity writ large. Other people are specialists — butterflies, moths, beetles, or whatever group interests them most.”
Though collecting insects is an inexpensive hobby, for museums, they’re scientific records that preserve snapshots of biodiversity across time. “If specimens are well documented — where they were collected, when they were collected, and who collected them — they become ambassadors for that time and place that can never be replicated,” Bills explains.
Museum collections are like libraries of biodiversity — archives that preserve evidence of life across generations. And while flashy butterflies and colorful beetles often attract a lot of attention, Bills reminds listeners that ordinary insects matter.
“There were animals that lived a long time ago that were very, very common — like bison or passenger pigeons. There were billions of them, and now they're gone,” Bills concludes. “So, when we look outside and see things that look common, we might disregard them. But those things might be gone in future.”
Bug Note on YouTube
Check out the extended conversation on YouTube. Be sure to like and subscribe to receive notice of upcoming episodes.
About Bug Note
Bug Note is hosted by Daniel Potter, a science writer who's also worked in the world of public radio for many years, and who loves fresh air and storytime. He's joined by Dr. Jason Cryan, NHMU’s Sarah B. George Executive Director and trained entomologist, and Christy Bills, NHMU's Invertebrate Collections Manager, as well as other bug-loving guests. Video production by Blank Space. The podcast is created in collaboration with the Natural History Museum of Utah, with the expertise and support of its scientific, philanthropic, marketing, and education teams. Special thanks to NHMU friend and insect enthusiast Ted Fridirici.
Authors
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By Olivia Barney
Olivia serves as NHMU’s Marketing Copywriter/Coordinator, where she collaborates across departments to craft engaging stories that help bring groundbreaking research projects to life. She might be the Oxford comma’s number one fan.
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By Jason Cryan, Ph.D.
Areas of Expertise • Museum administration and leadership • Evolutionary biology • Entomology • Plant-feeding insects of the Order Hemiptera • Planthoppers, spittlebugs, treehoppers Background Jason Cryan, Ph.D., serves as the fourth executive director of the Natural History Museum of Utah. With its rich, 50-year history as the most important natural history museum in America’s...
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By Christy Bills
Areas of Expertise • Insect collection curation • Science communication • Fireflies in the Western U.S. • Community Science Background Christy joined the Museum staff in 1998 and has been managing the invertebrate collections with the help of volunteers and interns ever since. Moving from 19th century technologies, she shepherded the collection from outdated housing to archival...
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By Dan Potter
Daniel Potter is a science writer and audio producer based in Nashville, Tennessee. He's reported for Nashville Public Radio and KQED in San Francisco, and has appeared on Science Friday and PBS NewsHour. He's also written for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Some of his writing appears in the 2023 book Bay Curious: Exploring the Hidden True Stories of the San Francisco Bay Area.
