KEOKUK — Considering bugs have three brains and outnumber humans by an enormous proportion, it seems strange they haven't taken over the world yet.
But insect brains don't operate like human brains, said Ginny Mitchell, educational program coordinator of the Iowa State University Insect Zoo. Mitchell mentioned that factoid Friday morning while talking to a group of local students inside the River City Mall in Keokuk.
Mitchell said insect brains are divided into three lobes spread throughout the insect's body, independently operating those parts of the body.
"That's why if a cockroach loses its head, it can still survive for six months," Mitchell said.
It's a useful trait, albeit a creepy one. A few of the students in the front row recoiled at the thought of it.
"Oh my gosh," one boy said involuntarily.
Mitchell showed off a variety of exotic insects during her 40-minute presentation, and any revulsion the children had to the bugs was mixed with a healthy dose of curiosity.
One of the favorites was the hissing cockroach.
Mitchell held the bug up to her microphone after irritating it with a mild belly rub, and it sounded like a tire losing pressure through a small hole. The air was coming from tiny holes on the cockroach's belly, designed to scare off predators by sounding like a snake.
Mitchell said the earth would be covered in poop and dead bodies if not for the cockroaches that make meals of decomposition.
"Actually, cockroaches are one of the most important insects we have, because they are the garbagemen of the Earth," Mitchell said.
Mitchell's glass display cases were loaded with even more insects, many of which the children got to touch after the presentation. That included the always dreaded tarantula, which was nicer than he looked.
Nine-year-old Olivia Garrett, a fourth-grader from St. Vincent School, described the tarantula as "really soft." But that wasn't the only insect she got to touch Friday morning.
"This is awesome. I like bugs. I thought there might be snails, but that's okay," she said.
Students from about 15 area schools watched Mitchell's back-to-back insect presentations after checking out some bald eagles from spotting scopes on the banks of the Mississippi River. The morning of educational fun acted as a sneak preview of the exhibits that will be at the annual Bald Eagle Appreciation Days starting today and continuing through Sunday.
It wasn't just spiders and cockroaches, either. Mitchell showed off millipedes and centipedes, scorpions and arachnids that pretend to be scorpions.
But the freakiest of the bugs was also the most gentle — a Malaysian walking stick that was at least half the length of Mitchell's arm. A couple of ultra-thin feelers longer than Mitchell's fingers protruded from the walking stick's body, waving in the air to assess the environment.
"Walking sticks are gentle giants. They feed on plants. They do not bite humans," Mitchell said.
The walking stick crawled across Mitchell's upper body during the presentation, then balanced on her head as if it were an insect hat. For a short time, Mitchell said, wearing living beings in your hair was considered fashionable.
"Did you know that in the 1920s, ladies walked around with living chameleons in their hair?" Mitchell said. "That only lasted a few months. It was scaring away all the boys."