To post your question to Ruud for the June 22nd session, please click "reply".

Thanks!

****ALERT**** UPDATE 6/22:

Just received word that Ruud is working on location in the wilds of Alaska and unfortunately has little to no phone or Internet access, so he won't be able to join us live for a Q&A tonight. But he will be checking the message boards when he returns to civilization, so keep posting questions and be sure to check back for his responses.

Apologies and thanks for your understanding!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mod_kelly,

Hello there Ruud. I would like to ask: What is the largest insect in the United States? And why can't any bugs grow as big as oh, a cat for example?

Hi Ruud. I keep many pet insects as a hobby and I cant get enough of them. Parts of my collection range from more common tarantulas and scorpions to uncommon pet insects such as beetles and phasmids. I was wondering what your opinion is on people rearing their own pet insects?? Do you encourage it? Also, do YOU have a private invertebret colleciton of your own??

Hi there, everyone!
I made it!!! Yes - despite the fact that we are currently filming in the middle of nowhere in Alaska, I managed to find a tiny copper wire that will slowly send some answers to you people on this message board... and I mean SLOWLY.
So - despite the fact that I am sitting here, in a rather cold outdoor environment with a make-shift desk and a laptop computer, I shall be answering questions till about 9 pm ET.
How's that?
Look forward to it - hope you enjoyed the show tonight... Aussie Attackers, eh?
Mean biters and stingers.... but a heck of a lot of fun;
Catch y'all!
Ruud the Bugman

Question about why bugs can't grow to the size of a cat, etc....
Insects are limited in their growth by a number of factors: Oxygen is one of them: Insects don't have lungs and don't breathe "actively" but take in oxygen by diffusion of air through those tiny holes in the side of their body ("spiracles"). If the body is huge, the oxygen has much further to travel and can't reach the vital organs. So there's a size limit.
Another reason is the thickness of the exoskeleton: if you grow much bigger, the skin (or exoskeleton) also needs to become a lot thicker, making the insect heavier and leaving less room for muscles and organs and other important bits inside.
If you watch "the World's Biggest Baddest Bugs" in a few weeks on WILD WEDNESDAYS on Animal Planet , you'll hear some of these reasons and see them demonstrated.
Great question!
Cheerio
Ruud the Bugman

Keeping insects as pets can be fun and very educational, AS LONG AS YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO DO AND DON'T KEEP THEM FOR MORE THAN A FEW DAYS OR PERHAPS WEEKS. That is my personal view on these matters; I personally don't think it is a great idea to keep a wild animal behind bars and insects are wild animals too!!
You can often learn just as much from observing insects and spiders in the wild as you can from keeping them in captivity...
Indeed, from time to time I keep a large spider, or a centipede, or a New Zealand "weta" (large, flightless tree cricket) for a few weeks, especially when I do educational talks or public appearances, but I always set them free again in exactly the same place where I found them!
Have fun with Bugs!
Ruud the Bugman

quote:

Originally posted by holdthepickle:
Hi Ruud. I keep many pet insects as a hobby and I cant get enough of them. Parts of my collection range from more common tarantulas and scorpions to uncommon pet insects such as beetles and phasmids. I was wondering what your opinion is on people rearing their own pet insects?? Do you encourage it? Also, do YOU have a private invertebret colleciton of your own??

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ruud_thebugman,

Hi Ruud,
Our three year old son is fascinated with bugs. Some people may say he's bit obsessed with them as a matter of fact. My husband and I were wondering at what age did you discover your knack for working with BUGS? De groeten from my husband.
The van Stijn family

This message has been edited. Last edited by: avanstijn,

Hey Ruud!

I just came back from Australia and saw many interesting insects and animals. I took a picture of a spider I saw in Sydney. Can you tell me what it is? Here is a picture:
http://www.psych.upenn.edu/~sherrym/ozspider.jpg

I love your show! Insects usually are not featured in many animal shows so I'm learning a lot of great new things. Keep it up!

I started relatively late in life with my bug hobby (in Nederland, when studying at Wageningen University) I was about 20.
Mind you: I see a lot of kids at very young ages getting into entomology, so there is really no limit here.... The younger the better.
What I think makes a real difference is having PARENTS who encourage their kids to do this kind of thing!!! Kids need all the support they can get; Kids themselves are more than clever enough to sort themselves (and the bugs!) out...
Cheerio and have fun!(dag dag)
Ruud

quote:

Originally posted by avanstijn:
Hi Ruud,
Our three year old son is fascinated with bugs. Some people may say he's bit obsessed with them as a matter of fact. My husband and I were wondering at what age did you discover your knack for working with BUGS? De groeten from my husband.
The van Stijn family

That spider is unmistakeable: Nephila is its name, commonly referred to as the golden orb-weaving spider. We featured it in last week's "buggin' with Ruud" show on Animal Planet (it also occurs in Papua Nw Guinea).
It builds big webs, made from strong, golden silk. They are the driftnetters of the suburbs and the jungle! That silk is so strong it could just about hold a boeing 737...
Just kidding!
Thanks for your nice comments about the show; we love making it and it really is a huge team exercise!
Take care
Ruud the Bugman

quote:

Originally posted by lunastrixae:
Hey Ruud!

I just came back from Australia and saw many interesting insects and animals. I took a picture of a spider I saw in Sydney. Can you tell me what it is? Here is a picture:
http://www.psych.upenn.edu/~sherrym/ozspider.jpg

I love your show! Insects usually are not featured in many animal shows so I'm learning a lot of great new things. Keep it up!

Hello sir,

I've been watching your new series on Animal Planet, "Buggin' With Ruud", and as a lifelong amateur entomologist (I'm presently keeping and breeding various exotic species of Mantises, my favorite insect), I was quite thrilled to hear about this show, especially since I've enjoyed your previous appearances on that channel (most notably your 'Biggest and Baddest Bugs'documentary). I do have one question for you; do Cat Fleas serve any significant purpose, other than making life miserable for everyone except the exterminator? I'm currently suffering from an infestation of these tiny terrors in my home, and am desperate for a way to rid myself of them.

FLEAS certainly serve a purpose in the greater ecological scheme: They are parasites of warm-blooded vertebrates and are often implicated in the transmission of diseases from host to host. In other words they play a part in "regulating" the population numbers of their host animals.
I'm sure they also serve as food for other animals and in most cases, fleas have parasites themselves.
But... I can understand your problem! Summer time means a proliferation of fleas and careful control measures do exist and do work when applied sensibly: flea collars on pets, frequent vacuumcleaning to suck up the eggs and larvae from carpets and even certain effective sprays are on the market; Perhaps best to ask your local vet what works best; I do not have a great handle on what's available in the USA in general, and in your State in particular... and I don't want to give you the wrong advice!!!
Thank you for your kind comments about "Buggin' with Ruud"; we certainly enjoy making the show!
I am currently writing this from Anchorage, where we have just come off a glacier near Seward to film all sort of bugs that live perilously close to death in snow and ice... Thanks to te brilliant weather, here in Alaska, I am rather sunburnt but had a great time falling off the dog sled!
Kind Regards
Ruud the Bugman

Thanks Ruud and everyone who participated!

Join us for our next session with Ruud on June 29th.

We're opening it up...so post your questions now!