Conservation Week - Blogging with the Bugman!

Below are the questions we asked the Ruud 'Bugman' Klienpaste today. We hope to get some answers soon. Updated to add the answers we received from the Bugman. We did ask some more questions that you can check out on the blog.

Gianlucca and Ryan
How did you become the Bugman?
What is the funniest bug you have seen in your life?
How much honey do bees collect in a day?
What do grasshoppers eat?
What do slaters eat?
Where do you find lizards and skinks?

Lukaz and Caroline
What kind of bugs pollinate?
Are buttercups poisonous?

Answers from the Bugman:
Hi you two!
There are lots of bugs that carry out the noble art of pollination: flies, bees, wasps, beetles, moths, butterflies, but also birds and lizards etc etc.
I am not sure if buttercups are poisonous to us, humans. How would you find that out, Caroline and Lukaz?

Domonic and Tyrone
What do birds eat?
What do bats eat?
How can the bees take the pollen from the flowers?
What do Bees and baby bees eat?

Answers from the Bugman:
big questions, Tyrone and Domonic!
there are many different bird species and they all have their preferred diet: some eat fish, others squid, some eat buds and seeds, others eat insects… but a few special species eat nectar and honeydew.
Bats eat insects and nectar or plant materials; it depends on what species you are talking about.
Bees take pollen from the ends of the male flower parts (called stamen) and put them in their “pollen basket to fly home with them.
Baby bees eat a mixture of pollen and nectar
cheerio!

Tara and Tyler
Have you known anyone that has been bitten by a Tarantula?
Do you like Scorpions and Mosquitoes?
What is the most dangerous bug in the world?
What bug do you like the most?

Answers from the Bugman:
I have been bitten by tarantulas a few times – it hurts too!
I love scorpions; they are cool predators of the deserts. Don’t like mosquitoes very much at all, although I must say they are very clever at finding people, asleep in bed at night!
How – do you think they do that, Tara and Tyler?
The bug I like the most is the New Zealand weta: it is the coolest critter on the planet!

Meghana and Annabelle
1.What would happen if there were no bugs in the world?(Meghana)
2.Where are there beehives in New Zealand?(Annabelle)
3.How long can grass grow?(Meghana)
4.How many bugs have you seen before?(Annabelle)
5.Are there any more pollinators in the world than Geckos,Bugs,birds,bees,bats,beetles,tuis,housflies and the wind?(Meghana)
6.Where do grasshoppers live?(Annabelle)
7.How long do flowers take to grow back after they have been picked?(Meghana)
8.Are there any plants that eat things?(Annabelle)

Answers from the Bugman:
1)No bugs in the world? we would simply die within 6 months – end of story! (not end of planet, mind you – it will find other ways to live…
2) Beehives are everywhere in NZ; go online and find out who looks after bees.
3) Grass can grow as long as it wants. Some grasses grow to one meter high (tussocks) others no more than 3 centimeters tall
4) I have seen heas of bugs; thousands!
5) There are many more pollinators in the world: think of mice, rats, lizards, thrips, mites… etc etc
6) Usually in grass fields or patches of undergrowth… but they really don’t like much shade from trees
7) that depends on what tyoe of plant they are from
Oh Yes! how about pitcher plants and sundews; they are carnivorous plants that eat bugs; some of the bigger ones even eat rodents!