by

Lisa Carloye

Everybody sing along

(to the tune of "Three Blind Mice")

Three body parts

Three body parts

See where they are

See where they are

The Head's attached to the thorax

The thorax leads to the abdomen

You'll never see insects without these

Three body parts

Welcome to insect theater. Conceived, written, and produced by Mike Jeffords and Sue Post of the Illinois Natural History Survey, it's the biggest show in town during Agronomy Days and Insect Expo. It's got catchy tunes (just try getting this one out of your head), colorful costumes, and big name scientists behind the scenes, add in screaming, overly excited children, and well, it's a production not to be missed.

There are three different shows. "What is an Insect?" explores the basic insect body plan and includes the hits "Three Body Parts" and "If You're an Insect and You Know It" (flap your wings). "Metamorphosis" describes the difference between incomplete and complete metamorphosis and "The Food Chain" explores interactions between plants, herbivores, and predators and includes the ever popular hit tune "Ten Little Aphids" sung to the tune of "Ten Little Indians."

Each skit delivers an entomological message set to larger than life dancing insects and really bad puns. Eager kids are selected from the audience to volunteer on stage with often hilarious results. After the show, the "actors" hang around for photo ops and to sign autographs for the kids. P.U. Stinkbug has been the perennial favorite, with kids begging to have their hands and even their foreheads autographed for posterity.

So the next time it opens in a venue near you, be sure to come to Insect Theater. This bug's for you.

Linnaean Games

by

Lisa Carloye

After a hiatus of many years, the U of I department of Entomology once again fielded a team for the Linnaean games at the 1993 ESA NCB meeting in Fargo, ND. Although we did not advance beyond the first round, we did stand out as the only all-female team--myself, Lesley Deem-Dickson, Claire Rutledge, and emergency stand-in Karlene Ramsdell, with Lee Solter as student coach and booster. Our only male member, Felipe Soto-Adames, was attending a Collembola meeting during this historic event and was unable to be with us at our debut.

After our loss, we headed home determined to make a better showing next year. In the fall, we gained Steve Gaimari, a new grad student from Washington State University and a veteran of the games. We moved from meeting weekly at local hangouts to a rotating dinner at the home of each team member--the Linnaean Supper Club was born.

At the next NCB meeting we were prepared. We had a strategy--two taxonomists, one studying for prelims, one with applied knowledge, and Claire, the short-term memory queen. There were an uneven number of teams and we were placed in the bracket that included an extra game. No problem, we were prepared. We easily won the first round. Now we were really ready. Our next match was tough, but we pulled it off. Only one to go and we would be in the finals. While Purdue waited, we mounted the platform to face the "extra" game in our bracket--Kansas State. Little did we know they had a secret weapon, Vern Steiffle. It was neck and neck all the way. The final question came and went. A tie. We were tense. Then it happened. The question was launched: "What does `stylopized' mean and give an example of a family that does it." A buzzer rang and we all looked to see who got it. Vern Steiffle. He leaned back, took a deep breath, and said, "Stylopidae would be a family..."; we held our breath. His gaze clouded over, he looked at the ceiling, and drummed his fingers on the table. Our hearts leapt--Vern was guessing! We could feel the victory--we knew the answer. He slowly leveled his gaze and started talking, "Well, let's see, they parasitize bees and live between the tergites..." He guessed it! They won the game! On a guess! On a guess when we KNEW the answer! Life is unfair. The entire evening it hung in the air--"stylopized," we'd say to each other. You could see it in our eyes--stylopized.

The next year we tried to regain our rightful victory. We invited Vern Steiffle to join us in the hospitality suites. It didn't work. We didn't make it past the second round. We were stigmatized. Stylopized. Our consolation came several months later when, during her prelims, Claire was asked not one but three of the questions we fielded at the Linnaean Games. Needless to say, she passed first try. We're back! Just wait 'til next year.