A bug's life: learning about Oklahoma's insects

Jul. 31—Professor Wyatt Hoback's love for bugs sprouted at a young age.

"I'm basically Peter Pan," Hoback said. "I was chasing bugs at six, and I'm doing it now."

Woback has taught for 10 years in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Oklahoma State University. One of his goals is helping people understand that bugs are not as scary as they seem.

"I think all kids are fascinated, and then about age 10 or 11 it becomes uncool, except for the rare people that become entomologists," Hoback said, laughing.

Hoback said many people are confused over names and types of bugs. For instance, he's encountered people that think an Asian multicolored beetle — the kind that gets into houses in the fall — is different than its cousin, the red ladybug. But they are both beetles, technically.

In Japan or China in the fall, Asian beetles gather and winter on cliffs. In Stillwater, there are no cliffs, so the beetles find refuge in houses and create problems.

Another misconception is that cicada killers — sometimes called "dog-day" cicadas — are large wasps or Asian giant hornets.

In reality, the ones flying around are the male wasps who can't sting. The female wasps hunt cicadas to raise their offspring and are found in sandy soils or mulch. Their life cycles last until mid-September.

"People will think, 'Giant wasp attacking me,' when really, it's a giant wasp who can't sting you that's trying to figure out what's going on," Hoback said. "The wasps are not going to hurt you."

Hoback teaches a class called Insects in Society to 700 university students a year. He's known for his engaging teaching style, which includes allowing a scorpion to sting him to let students know that their sting is far less fearsome than a bee or wasp sting.

"If we don't know, we tend to fear or assume they're going to cause harm," Hoback said.

Insects in Society is about how few arthropods, insects and relatives actually hurt humans.

"The things that we tend to worry about are spiders," Hoback said. "They don't hurt many people or kill many people. It's safer to be bitten by one of those than to be bitten by a tick or a mosquito, because blood-feeders are used as vehicles for microorganisms."

A mosquito bite can give someone West Nile virus or a host of other diseases or pathogens. A tick bite can give someone bacteria, such as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, ehrlichiosis or a red-meat allergy called Alpha gal Syndrome.

"I know so many Oklahomans who say, 'Oh, it's just a mosquito bite,' or 'Yeah, it's a tick bite,'" Hoback said. "Really, what you have to worry about is getting a disease versus a spider bite."

Hoback will teach a new class called Arachnid Biology in the fall semester.

"Spiders are actually kind of heroes," Hoback said. "They're eating the weight of insects equivalent to all humans on the planet every year. If you added up the weight of all humans on the planet, spiders eat that much in insects."

Hoback said spiders eat mosquitos, ticks, fleas and bed bugs — things that can cause people harm or eat crops, plants or fruits. Yet, there's a long history of irrational fears, or arachnophobia, about "creepy, eight-legged organisms."

"At what point did we decide spiders are creepy versus dogs?" Hoback asked. "Dogs cause more injuries in Oklahoma than spiders."

He said three Oklahomans have died this year from pit bull bites — but there have been no deaths from a spider bite. Even rattlesnakes are less dangerous than dogs.

"We know nice dogs, but we don't know nice rattlesnakes, and we don't get close enough to find out if there's any nice spiders," Hoback said.

This cultural mindset leads to a lot of people applying insecticides around their homes, which are harmful to themselves.

When he talks to the public, Hoback asks them if they like birds. When they say "Yes," he follows up with a practical conclusion.

"Well, no bugs, no birds," Hoback said. "Every single bird uses bugs to raise their nestlings. So if we lost insects and spiders, we lose our birds, we lose all our freshwater fish ... no bugs (means) no bass, no bluegill, no walleye, no carp, no catfish."

Gaining experience about how insects are helpful to the environment would help people the most, Hoback said.

That may include taking a class or visiting Insect Adventure in Stillwater, part of an Oklahoma Cooperative Extension that is directed by Professor Andrine Shufran, and is a division of the agricultural sciences and natural resources department at OSU.

Insect Adventure has the only live bug petting zoo in the state, with more than 30 species of living arthropods.

"Start thinking about why a person doesn't like a spider or a bug — and is it rational or is it ... irrational," Hoback said. "If you knew more, maybe you'd see the purpose of it."

He said his department often gets calls about getting rid of certain bugs, but a lot of the time, the bug shouldn't be killed.

"It's benefiting the environment, it's benefiting Oklahoma economy," Hoback said. "It's helping reduce what you would consider pests."

Insect Adventure visited the Bethany Children's Health Center this summer with their live bug petting zoo to entertain patients. The exposure to the live bug petting zoo gave kids a chance to handle insects and learn that not all bugs are bad.

Even so, Hoback cautioned residents about one insect to watch out for this fall — ticks. The disease Alpha gal Syndrome is on the rise across the state. Hoback encouraged hikers to spray bug spray around their socks and check themselves after they have been outdoors.

"If a tick doesn't bite you, it has no ability to transmit disease," Hoback said. "Even if it bites you and you find it within the first couple of hours, it's not much of a concern."

In the fall, ticks are still in the environment even if they're not actively foraging.

Hoback said dogs should be treated with dog heart worm medicine regularly. For humans, he suggested using citronella candles on patios to avoid mosquitoes. Waiting until 9:30 or 10 at night is best, as there are far less mosquitoes out at that time than during a sunset or a sunrise.

In the U.S., there are only 16 entomology programs for undergraduates. Only 300 undergraduate students are currently pursuing entomology in the nation, and there's a growing need for more students. Entomology is a path to other careers, like biology, epidemiology or pre-medicine, Hoback said.

"Bugs influence everything," Hoback said. "They pollinate our crops, so we need them. They eat our crops, so we need to control those pests."