Worth Bugging Out About? Wisconsin Insect Fest Aims To Celebrate Insects

There are more than 20,000 insects, spiders and other arthropods that call Wisconsin home. And while many of us might focus on keeping our lives bug-free, the first-ever Wisconsin Insect Fest aims to explore the fascinating world of insects and appreciate just how important they are to us.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Entomology is hosting the two-day event featuring a wide variety of talks, workshops and activities at the Kemp Natural Resources Station in Minocqua. The festival starts Friday and goes through Saturday.

P.J. Liesch, entomologist and manager of the UW-Madison Insect Diagnostic Lab, said the fest is free and open to the public.

“The event is for anyone interested in insects,” Liesch said. “We’re going to have activities for folks of all ages, and we do have some geared more toward kids.”

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“It’s essentially a 24-hour ‘BioBlitz.’ It means we’re going out to see how many insects and other arthropods we can spot at the Kemp station, starting Friday at 5 p.m.,” Liesch said.

And that’s not all.

They’re offering courses and workshops on things like medical entomology and forensic entomology, which is how entomologists can help solve crimes. There will also be an outing to a quaking bog to see aquatic insects, and for the more adventurous, there’s a lesson in entomophagy to learn about edible bugs.

“And if you’ve ever wanted to know how to properly collect, pin and curate an insect collection, we’ll have a workshop on that to close out the event,” Liesch said.

If you love insects, this buzz-worthy event is worth checking out.

For more information on this, visit tinyurl.com/wisconsininsectfest.

Bugs not your thing? Here are some other less-known events happening around the state:

• Consider taking in a performance of the original musical variety show, “The Hodag and Scooby Dude,” now playing at the Meyer Theatre in Green Bay.
• There’s Pig In the Pines, an event that celebrates bacon, barbecue and bands in St. Germain.
• There’s the CowaLUNGa, charity bike tour in Hubertus the first weekend in August.
• Get out on the water for the Annual Canoe River Fall Rendezvous in Sparta happening in late August.