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PEEKSKILL, NY -- Students from Diane Reggio's kindergarten class at Woodside Elementary School got bugged by a special visitor Thursday afternoon, but in a good way.
Terminix manager Bob Young stopped by to talk to children about bugs and the roles they play different aspects of life.
While his job is to get rid of bugs, Young stressed that the majority of insects are not harmful to people and many play a positive role in the world we live in. In some countries bugs are even a common source of food.
Insects like bees are responsible for making honey, although it takes many bees to make even a tablespoon of it.
"They all just make a little bit of honey in their entire lifetime," Young said.
Bees are also responsible for helping fruits like apples, cranberries and melons to grow.
"All of these things come from pollination," Young said. "From the good bugs."
And just like superheroes insects also have super powers. A flea can jump 200 times the length of their body and a horsefly can fly at 90 miles per hour. A spider's web is so strong that a web as thick as a pencil could lift an airplane, Young said.
It would be hard to avoid insects even if we wanted to, since according to Young insects outnumber humans 1,600,000,000 to one.
Young also brought another special visitor with him: a large millipede that he let children touch and hold. While their cousin the centipede is carnivorous and is capable of stinging prey, Young said the millipede is a much more tame herbivore.
"They're very friendly, but when they walk on you, you feel all those legs, like it's tickling you," Young said.
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