Insect Study MB: Req to collect insects

[Nike]

The requirement to collect and mount 50 different species seems to imply killing them. (I don't know how to mount them otherwise.) I have had Scouts tell me they don't want to kill insects, especially butterflies and moths. They don't believe it is environmentally aware or respectful of life, and I agree with them. Is mounting photos, taken by the Scout, of fifty different species acceptable? And, why is this the only life study badge which encourages permanently removing specimens from the eco-system? Who should I address this to at the National level?

[jmwalston]

Yes, mounting them would generally mean shoving a mounting pin through them. Or gluing them to a mounting card. Either way kills them if not already dead. Personally, this is not an issue unless you are squeamish about killing insects. As to being conservationally green and not killing bugs, really not an issue. Class Insecta has been around and dominant for 460 million years, still the largest class of animal out there. You won't make a dent in them by taking out 50. If butterflies and moths are an issue, don't include Order Lepidoptera in the collection. Your other alternative is to collect already dead specimens.

 

Going by BSA standards on Merit Badge Counseling, photos are not acceptable to fulfil the requirement.

[Nike]

Personally, insects in my house need to die. Insects outside the house can go on about their lives. Sure it's an insect. Insects outweigh the rest of creation by logarithmic factors. But, this is still the only MB, that I know of, in which the boys are encouraged to kill something. We don't ask them to open up a frog or a cat or molest bird nests.

[theysawyoucomin']

I've got 50 different kinds of horse flies

and deer flies they can have

 

[Be_Prepared]

Fishing requires a scout to kill a fish.

 

 

[frank10]

But, this is still the only MB, that I know of, in which the boys are encouraged to kill something.

 

Fishing:

9. Catch two different kinds of fish and identify them. Release at least one of them unharmed. Clean and cook another fish.

 

 

Fly Fishing:

10. Using the fly-fishing techniques you have learned, catch two different kinds of fish and identify them. Release at least one of them unharmed. Clean and cook another fish.

[Bob White]

Nike

High School science classes all across the country have been doing insect collections every semester for decades and yet I am unaware of any concerns over the impact it has made on the insect population anywhere in the country. Are you aware of any actual evidence that this is a problem, or is this just a personal feeling you have about the activity?

 

As far as who to contact that would the National Boy Scout Advancement Committee at the BSA's Irving,TX headquarters.

 

But before you do that...you might take the time to do some thoughtful investigation of the issues that concern you. Perhaps there is a university near you where you could get more cfacts on the topic from an actual entomologist. If you are hopiong to make the BSA change then you will need to show some actual information to support your opinion.

 

 

Remember that Insect Study is not a required merit badge, scouts who do not care for the requirements do not have to earn the merit badge.

[jmwalston]

This is hair splitting as to the requirement. The badge doesn't say catch, kill, and mount 50 insects, though I would. It says collect and mount 50 insects. If the politically correct scout has an objection, don't do the badge. If it's a matter of ethics, call your local Orkin or Terminex agent.

 

And Fishing/Fly Fishing says catch two fish and return at least one unharmed. If you have a problem killing insects, I think you would have a problem setting a sharpened hook in an animal's mouth just for the joy of the capture.

[Nike]

Forgot about eating the fish, but then the Scout does eat the fish. He doesn't sling it in his closet to get manky or hang it from a wall until all the little bits dry out and fall off. (We move frequently so any budding entymologist at this house won't be bringing his collection.)

 

I ask because boys asked.

 

And, if I believe MB requirements could be changed or improved, who's to say I can't send National my thoughts on the matter? They're getting input from someone. Why not me? They are as free to ignore it as the post office.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jmwalston]

No one says you can't, or shouldn't request a requirement change. It might have already been tried. The badge used to be called Insect Life. Guess the irony wasn't lost on someone.

[CalicoPenn]

Insect Study is the only merit badge that requires a Scout to collect and kill things.

 

Nature Merit Badge, if a Scout chooses the insect study as one of his options, requires collecting and mounting 10 insects, but it is one of many options, and can be avoided.

 

Read the requirements for fishing and fly fishing only - it doesn't require a Scout to kill any of the fish he catches. In fact, the requirement states they should release at least one of them, which implies he can release all of them. It does state that the Scout needs to clean a fish - but it doesn;t say clean a fish he's caught. There is nothing that says he can't buy the fish to be cleaned.

 

If butterflies and moths are the issue, what is to prevent the lads from collecting pest species - gypsy moths, cabbage butterflies, etc.?

 

Calico

 

[theysawyoucomin']

Let's remember we are talking about bugs here. They eat you when they can, if we were their size they would tear our soft flesh with relish.

 

Some folks think they may have souls, and that's ok but let's remember we live in a country that pays to abort humans. I once had a vegan tell me she wouldn't eat anything with a face, but if you stepped near her right to clear up last months oopsie then you were in for a fight. Irony.

 

Horseflies

Ticks

deerflies

ants

earwigs

roaches

green eyed manure flies

cluster flies

fruit flies

common house fly

 

 

Stink bugs

cucumber beetles

tent caterpillars

tomato hornworm

Japanese beetles

wasps

sow bugs

Daddy long legs

mosquitoes

slugs

 

Aphids

 

 

 

I am up to 21 is anybody weeping?

[Gold Winger]

Daddy long legs are harmless. Let them be.

[jmwalston]

"Daddy long legs are harmless. Let them be."

 

They are not insects either.

[packsaddle]

Urban myth time! I just love the daddy longlegs stuff. People think they're insects. People think they're spiders. (They're neither) People think they're poisonous (NOT!). Etc, etc. Good grief!

 

I also question this requirement: "Collect and mount 50 different species.* Include six orders and 18 families of insects. Label each with common and scientific names, where possible."

 

The asterisk: "*Some insects are endangered species and are protected by federal or state law. Every species is found only in its own special type of habitat. Be sure to check natural resources authorities in advance to be sure that you will not be collecting any species that is known to be protected or endangered, or in any habitat where collecting is prohibited."

 

This requirement, done correctly, is a truly daunting task. It would indeed be a simple matter to find 50 species of insects and mount them correctly. However, the identification to species part is far from trivial. Even college entomology classes that require collections do not much exceed this task. I also suggest that the counselor who thinks he/she can judge those identifications must be especially highly trained. Or else the exercise is hopelessly full of undiscovered errors and the boy has learned less than he thinks.

There is a link at USScouts.org that claims to be a way to propose new or revised merit badges:

http://www.usscouts.org/mb/proposals.asp

 

I think this one is truly a candidate for revision.

 

As for the fish, if I catch one that meets the limit requirements, I eat it.

 

Edited Part: I hope I don't have to comment on that "slug" in the list. It does, ahem, emphasize the inability of most people to distinguish even the most basic organismal groups from one another. Sigh. Ticks, alas, are arachnids, not insects, as well, and 'sowbugs' are (Sigh again) isopods.(This message has been edited by packsaddle)