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'Big Bugs' at the Minnesota Zoo make us think

Poweshiek skipperling butterfly sideview
The Poweshiek skipperling used to be among the most common butterfly species in Minnesota.
Photo courtesy Erik Runquist, Minnesota Zoo

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This summer, the Minnesota Zoo has put on a popular exhibit called "Big Bugs."

Thirteen animatronic bugs that stroll the Zoo's Northern Trail showcase a bug's life and asks us to rethink their importance.

Erik Runquist, one of the scientists behind "Big Bugs," and Marlene Zuk, a professor in the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota, explored what's new with bugs, why we should be paying attention, and what "Big Bugs" can help us understand.

The fascinating thing about insects is they're doing all this complex stuff that from afar and it looks like what people do, Zuk said.

"Their nervous systems are the size of a pin, but they're doing all these complex things. One of my favorite things is you don't need a big brain to do big things," she said.

But without the exhibit, people don't normally get a chance to observe this behavior.

"You're kind of getting a glimpse of the underside and all these characteristics that bugs have that most of us never see because we're not looking at them through microscopes," Miller said.

That's exactly the point, according to Runquist. The exhibit tries to emphasize how important many of these species are to us, and how little we notice them until we blow them up to more than human size, he said.

Related:
• Zoo trying to prevent extinction of 'most Minnesotan' butterfly
• Marlene Zuk on life with 'Six Legs'
• For cicadas and a researcher who studies them, it's all about sex

What are some of your favorite bugs?