BUGS & INSECTS Magazine

[Deadfoot]

Hi,

I have been collecting this magazine since the 1st issue. It's a fortnightly magazine and I have just picked up issue 56.

I've so far gained 5 display cases and a large collection of bug & insects in resin. There is quite a good magazine with each "bug" and its full of facts and information about where the "bug" for that issue come from.

With issue 56, we got a free USB mouse which is mainly made of resin, which houses a large spider.

My driving factor for getting this collection is that my children would not get to see or read about many of these insects/bugs. What with environmental changes and the destruction of many forests, some of these may one day be gone forever. Every fortnight they are so excited to see whats new, and they love to read about each "bug". Without this collection that is continually growing, my children would probably never get to see these. I think this magazine is a good educational tool.

[wyevilla]

Hi Deadfoot welcome to WAB.

Invertebrates in resin is not going to be everybody's cup of tea. However as long as the insects, spiders, etc are not endangered and there is some educational merit (which there appears to be in the case of your children) then I guess it is probably an OK magazine.

I must admit to some scepticism when it first came out - I honestly thought it would have petered out long ago. It sounds like you have quite a collection now.

Perhaps now is the time to introduce your children to WAB - the quality of the insect photographs here are truly amazing! Who knows it might spark the journey from interest to facination to hobby and, ultimately, to vocation.

[Dan Salter]

As a conservationist and amateur entomologist, who's job as a countryside officer has seen me involved in many education projects and working with kids, I was very excited and over the moon when I saw the tv ads for the bugs and also the similar rocks and minerals collection!. Having read the arguments threads I have to say I agree with all of Gill's points and arguments.

So excited infact that I am actually collecting the series myself for use as a reference collection and educational tool. I did not buy a single issue until I checked out (and its clearly stated in every issue) that all of the insect specimens are from 'farmed' sustainable sources. Nothing used is rare or endangered and no specimens are wild caught. The second selling point is that the collection is fully endorsed by the Natural History Musem.

I too would have bitten my own arm off as a kid to get my mum to subscribe to this collection for me!. And I would probably now be working for the NHM on expeditions in the amazon or borneo by now! (ok maybe not the last bit as I dont fly).
If you watched the excellent recent tv series 'Museum of Life' based at the NHM you would have seen their education rooms with huge groups of kids pouring over microscopes examining the exact same resin cased specimens!. Now, I dont have kids (yet) but when I do I will be much happier watching them do something like that, than shooting policemen and zombies on their xyz playboxtendowee thingy?

Sure there is an argument for digital photography , but even at 37 with a bit of experience behind me I still have seen and learnt things from the dead specimens that i would not have gained from digipics. And watching a child examining a specimen up close in their hands and asking questions...maybe through a magnifier, from the top, then turning it over to check underneath or to go face to face with the creature head on?...is priceless!.

As a conservationist, I am happy to purchase knowing that it goes toward supporting an insect farm in a 3rd world country and the revenue may also go toward research and insect conservation in some far flung part of the world.
As for the claim of ' a free gift gimmick to sell a few magazines' thats a bit of a weird one?...I personally pay my money for the excellent specimen. The fact it comes with a very good (albeit aimed at a younger crowd) magazine is an added bonus. Its no gimmick? the magazine is all about the specimen you get with it and its related species and ecology....the magazine comes with its insect....or the insect comes with its connected magazine?. there is no gimmick? It does what it says on the tin......A gimmick would be for the radio times to give away a free pack of clothes pegs or a plastic jam spoon on its cover to boost flagging sales?.

The argument of ' kids will buy the first three issues then give up meaning thousands of insects will die for nothing and be left on the shelf' doesnt really work either. All of these 'bit part' style magazine are normally SOR (Sale or return)...unsold stock goes back to the source. The magazine and website offer a full back issue service which of course comes from this surplus stock. Also, these series always repeat. Clearly this run is not the first as i have seen the complete collection for sale on ebay...so its run before and will run again in a couple of years time....at which point the surplus stock of insects gets re used......simples.

The arguments of the series encouraging kids to go out collecting insects (not that im totally against this anyway) is not really an issue. The entire magazine and series is about the insects. Everything written in the magazine is about the live insect and its egology, its habitat, breeding etc etc. In no way does the magazine teach us how to kill, collect, pin, trap, or find insects , or how they are cased in clear resin (which is a shame as I would love to know the encasing process as its been fascinating me?). The mag does not set any kids projects to 'go out and capture /kill/ find'. Maybe the title is misleading to some on here ....the series is about insects.....not collecting insects (other than the collection of each free dead specimen). Information on collecting and preparing an insect reference collection (of which I am not against if done legally and sensibly) I have had to gain by very long internet research and expensive books. Not from this magazine series.

However, whats so bad about encouraging kids to go into the garden and look for bugs ??....with all the available kids insect collecting and observation kit by way of pooters, magnifying boxes, collection jars etc etc the emphasis is always on capturing and studying a live specimen and then releasing. Most would actually much rather observe through plastic than actually try and touch or kill anything anyway!

And lastly....Charles Darwin (my personal hero) spent all his time as a young man collecting beetles and other insects, and look where he ended up!. Had he not done so and sat indoors on his xyz playboxtendowee thingy, we might all still be thinking we were made from scratch by some fictional fella called god?...Thank GOD for adventurous kids hunting for bugs thats what I say !

[Dan Salter]

and FYI....with reference to claims of the magazine fading away or dissapearing due to peoples negative opinions etc the series has run previously....an ebay search will show you there are 69 issues (weekly) that completes the set and then it starts over again....I think I am currently on about issue 10 or 11 of this run.....so its here to stay im afraid.

And I will be collecting the rocks/minerals collection when that re runs as I missed half of this run so didnt bother.

[Deano1984]

Just reading through these comments, thought i'd add my own.

I too disagree with the dead bugs with the magazine.
I read that a few people are interested in this magazine, especially their kids, but the main reason i became interested in insects was due to a similar magazine that came out about 15 years ago, it was called 'Bugs'. it was very informative, i particularly remember the giraffe-necked weevil and the windscorpion. In fact i still have the whole series up in the loft.

They too gave away a freebee, or something to collect over the weeks, in each issue you got a part of a glow in the dark giant plastic scorpion and a spider and you assembled them over the weeks.
i thought it was brilliant.

[KushmanG]

Hi,

I've just created an account to add to this topic. As an avid Invert/Insect appreciator, I think this magazine is reprehensible.

As I write this I have a beautiful Green Mantis in a large Exo Terra tank. Captive bred, fed well and handled often. It has been with me since being tiny, could fit on my fingernail. Now, its as large as the palm of my hand. I'm continually in awe of 'him' and often watch him hunting his prey (crickets) and rejoice in him growing and being fit and well.

Armed with the internet and several books, I've learned alot about him and its a joy to see him in developing all the time.

Being into Inverts of all types, I did ponder about the magazine when I saw it at WHSmiths, but thought then how many insects had to have been killed ON PURPOSE just for a magazine! Then I saw an issue with a mantis on it, just like mine. And the rack was big, full of magazines with more and more Mantis stuck to each cover.

I was livid! And also they have an issue with some Great Diving Beetle on it. Bloody hell, I've been hoping for 10 years just to SEE a Great Diving Beetle in my garden pond, the local canal, or even the long dyke that runs nearby. They, and every life form should NOT be HARVESTED for nothing more than a magazine!!

The mag itself is OK, but a PLASTIC MODEL of each insect would have been MORE educational! As the kids put together each part, they would learn easier which part is called which and where and what it does!

I cannot believe the NHM has endorsed this.

If you got kids want to see DEAD BUGS - go to the museum!!

If you got kids interested in bugs - get a good set up and rear one from a larva! LOOK AFTER IT! Watch it grow. Or go outside on a bug hunt and take photo's, draw sketches, look it up in a field guide!



Most of all, respect all life, and if you need to kill a bug that is harmful or dangerous, do so, but don't support the killing of anything JUST FOR A MAGAZINE!

Arrgh, I am SO angry at that magazine!

[KushmanG]

and plse dont say im a hypocrit because I feed my Mantis crickets. He needs them to eat, not to look at and then put on the shelf gathering dust!

There is something inherently wrong using any life as an mere ornament!

Oh, kids, you wanna see a Great Diving Beetle? Well, lets see where they can be found and go away for the weekend on a search. Nah, screw that, lets just buy one from the newsagents!

Oh dear mr nazi, you're wrong to support this magazine.

[tia sinclair]

hhow do i breed queen ants in the breeding season.the males and queens have wings, around the summer time.

[jpscloud]

I happened on this thread - I know it's very old but I can’t resist commenting on these arguments:

Originally Posted by LauraJ1982

Do the same people that are opposed to buying this magazine also choose not to holiday in Greece and Spain and other such tourist destinations where animal cruelty and disrespect is beyond belief, or do they choose not to buy chicken/meat/fish from the supermarket to demonstrate against chicken/meat/fish farms? It's a very difficult area to have morals on and perhaps there are more pressing issues of animal cruelty to focus on in and around the world? Just a thought....?

Animal cruelty in any form, anywhere, is disgusting. So is cruelty of any kind, but there is so much of it about all over the world. If we follow your argument to its conclusion, we should protest about all of it, or none of it, because (implied by this argument) it is absurd to protest about one thing and not another. It's cruel that some of the world is wealthy and enjoys education and health care while the rest of the world is starving and/or dying of treatable disease, but I doubt you would discourage me from giving what spare money I might have to one appeal just because I can't give to them all?

We don’t have the capacity to protest about all that is wrong all the time. That inability should not stop us from expressing an opinion, making a protest or taking action when something strikes us as wrong.

So yes, while there are many (arguably) more worthwhile causes to worry about, this is the one that’s occupying my thoughts at the moment, and I think I’m not that happy about the scorpions being bred for the rather dubious honour of being encased in resin for posterity (or the loft).

Originally Posted by Ukwildlifeo

The arguement here is a bit like the meat is murder arguement. While you can argue its cruel to raise and animal to kill it and then use it in a display (or eat it in the case of meat is murder) there is also the counter arguement that if there is no use for the animal it would never have been bred and lived in the first place.

I think it depends on whether cruelty is perceived to have taken place or not. If cruelty is perceived to have taken place (for example, battery hen farming) then I would argue that it would be better for those animals never to have been bred (farmed) in the first place. Please note that I am only talking about farming here, and not questioning right to life or inherent value in life.

If the scorpions are bred in conditions so different from their natural habitat that they suffer, then I would vote with my purse and not buy the mag, in the same way that I buy free range eggs rather than battery eggs.