Bug Doctor!

We have been very lucky to have a very special visitor in our school. Dr. Michel Dugon from the School of Natural Sciences in NUI Galway came to visit our school and showed us some very interesting creatures! Dr. Dugon, also known as The Bug Doctor, taught us all about different creatures, including reptiles and bugs!

Firstly he showed us a millipede and we learned the following facts:

They eat vegetables and fruits and their favourite food is banana.

They have between 40 and 400 legs. 

Next we got to look at several stick insects that are great at hiding among branches and twigs that are similar colours to them. They live a long time, as birds cannot find them to eat them. We had great fun looking for them! Have a look and see if you can find them in these pictures...

We then saw a tiger beetle, also known as a domino beetle. They have 6 unusual white spots that are a warning sign for birds. The spots tell the birds that they make a bad tasting chemical that would make them very sick. The tiger beetles are also very fast insects and can take the heads off their prey!

After this, we learned all about the 4 types of reptiles that still exist: snakes, turtles, lizards, turtles and crocodiles. 

We met Wilbert the 6 year old king snake, who used to live in California, in North America. Wilbert is a gentle snake, who is not venomous - his bite would only be the same as a cat scratch. Snakes like Wilbert can live up to 30 years and though they can't see very well, they can use their tongues to taste AND smell out its prey!! 

We also got to see another type of reptile - a leopard gecko. The leopard gecko is very gentle and lives in the desert in Central Asia and is able to camouflage, or hide, very well to protect itself. They carry their own reserve of food in their tail so they can survive a long time without fresh food and water. 

Following this, Michel showed us a scorpion and we got a big surprise when we found out that only 1 in 100 scorpions are dangerous! The sting of the scorpion that we saw is similar to that of a bee sting and a pinch from him would be the same as a pinch from a crab. 

Finally we got to see a tarantula and we learned that a spider is not actually an insect because insects are creatures that have only 6 legs, where a spider, as we know, have 8 legs! A tarantula also had 8 eyes and uses its feelers to taste, smell and feel!