A Real Buzz!

One of the things I regretted last year was that I never visited the Newfoundland Insectarium, just outside of Deer Lake. This year, I made sure to do it before heading to Gros Morne. I'm not too excited by displays of deceased insects, but the live ones were fun. I spent a long time in the butterfly garden. One little one landed on my arm and explored it for quite some time, licking at the salt. It occured to me that I was a kind of landscape to her. The butterflies were all exotic--not native. I also saw lots of stick insects and mantids. I got to hold some, which was a very different experience to say the least. They mostly wanted to get into a position where they could hang upside-down. 

 I had a great chat with Weston, who works there. He is possibly even more of an insect nerd than I am! We share a passion for sharing our love for insects and for trying to educate people about their beauty and complexity.

Weston with a stick bug

I didn't get the names of these butterflies: 

And here is the little girl who spent a long time with me: