How did your hobby start?

C

charx53

Tenebrio
I'm curious as to how people became interested in insects and when their hobby really took flight. There are some members that have so much information to give and are very willing to help others out...they really know their stuff!

Everyday I'm trying to learn as much as possible regarding this bug hobby, specifically about beetles and roaches lately (and mantids).

So tell me... when did your hobby start.. how did it begin?? Hope to hear some good stories!!

 
The way my passion for insects started was quite plain, but I felt the way it was introduced to me was perfect.

In general I am quite independant myself. I never have too many friends becuase I quite frankly just like independance. Being 12 at the time, I was starting to think for myself a lot yet my future was still very cloudy; I had no idea what I wanted to become or be interested in. However, flipping the rocks in my yard and finding all the cool insects was something I was doing since I was a toddler, but not to an extent that it was that memorable or significant. I liked to call it "in the back of my mind". One day, in the middle of summer, I had nothing to do. And I have no idea how it popped into my head as I was generally someone who never liked trying new stuff or liked change: I wanted to collect an ant colony from my yard and raise it.

It was a disaster from there, as there was no queen and I thought at that time that winged ants (alates) could reproduce in the nest, which was not the case. The colony died overnight.

However, this sparked my brain up like it never did before. It was so oddly satisfying to watch them dig, how they socialized, how they cared for their brood. And the best thing is, I found this amazing passion of insect keeping 100% by myself, something I'd never expect myself to do.

And as of late, my knowledge has expanded from ants to other arthropods like Isopods and beetles. Arthropods are all I think about all day now, and it is my only thing I do for fun. I devote a large part of my life to it.

 
Personally it started within early elementary school with me reading about them. Seeing all the cool leaf insects and nice stuff, I kind of put down the book (I did the same with fish and stuff) and basically told myself the stereotype that all insects live short lives. Fast forward to my special education teacher capturing a scorpion and putting it in a cracker jar. I was amazed. 5th grade I saw a group of students look at a mantis. Flash forward to 7th grade, I found a mantis in my yard. Now a few years later, it has blossomed.

 
Man I must have been six or seven when my parents came home with this big book on bugs. I carried that thing *everywhere* with me and was constantly reading it. It's been 14 years now and I'm majoring in Wildlife Management and Biology, and I'll be returning to grad school for a PhD in entomology!
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I've been seriously collecting pinned specimens for about three years now but Ive been keeping bugs for ten. I had nearly 35-40 species of tarantula. I've kept every single order from class Arachnida . The orders of insect I have kept are: Phasmatodea, Blattodea, mantodea, orthoptera, lepidoptera, coleoptera, hymenoptera, hemiptera, diptera, odonata, dermaptera, and neuroptera.

People on my college campus that I've never met refer to me as the bug dude, and I'm proud to have that title haha. Insects have -and always will- be a passion for me.

 
klawfran3 said:
Man I must have been six or seven when my parents came home with this big book on bugs. I carried that thing *everywhere* with me and was constantly reading it. It's been 14 years now and I'm majoring in Wildlife Management and Biology, and I'll be returning to grad school for a PhD in entomology!
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I've been seriously collecting pinned specimens for about three years now but Ive been keeping bugs for ten. I had nearly 35-40 species of tarantula. I've kept every single order from class Arachnida . The orders of insect I have kept are: Phasmatodea, Blattodea, mantodea, orthoptera, lepidoptera, coleoptera, hymenoptera, hemiptera, diptera, odonata, dermaptera, and neuroptera.

People on my college campus that I've never met refer to me as the bug dude, and I'm proud to have that title haha. Insects have -and always will- be a passion for me.
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What kind of hymenoptera? I am guessing Formicidae.
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Around two and a half years ago I was in a bad place. I was always getting into trouble, drugs, and just having a horrible outlook on life. One day I was on Instagram going through pictures of tattoos. I found this tattoo artist in a neighboring town. His work was outstanding so I started to follow him. About a week or two later he posted a picture of two huge beetles that I've never have seen before. Mind you, before this I had no interest in any sort of invertebrates at all. I would kill spiders and pretty much any other bugs that I found. Bugs grossed me out! After seeing his picture of a pair of Dynastes tityus, I was in awe. I never seen such creatures in my life let alone even knew they existed. Immediately I started doing research. I slowly found out how to keep these beetles and what supplies to gather for larvae and adults. Then I finally bought my first pair of Dynastes tityus. I cannot even describe how exciting this was for me. From this, I started getting more and more pairs of rhinoceros and stag beetles. After they all died, I started to research arachnids and other invertebrates. I started to keep true spiders like jumping spiders and wolf spiders. This then led to keeping tarantulas and then a mantis. My obsession is still there too. I can't find a day where I don't research some kind of invert. It's insane. I'd never even think to kill a spider now! Even though I still have my days, my collection always make me happy. It's amazing to come home to them and appreciate what they are. Not to mention showing friends/family creatures they've never seen. Their reaction is priceless!

 
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