Florida 4-H

Banner image of youth examining various insects

Insectathon

The 4-H State Insectathon Event provides 4-H youth with opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge of the entomology world.

This event is opened to Juniors, Intermediates and Seniors. Each county may send up to two teams plus two individuals in each 4-H age level to compete in the state event. A total of 30 youth may represent each county. Teams consist of 3-4 members. Cloverbuds may participate in the art contest.

Photo of youth holding a scorpion

All levels will compete in the same four sections of the contest but each age division will have different sets of study materials. Where possible, contest materials will be tailored to fit each age division.

Key Questions	Information
Who	4-H members - Juniors, Intermediate and Seniors Cloverbuds may participate in the Insectathon Art Contest
When	February 8, 2025 \| Check-in: 8:30AM EST \| Event Begins: 9:00AM EST \| Event Ends: 2:00PM EST
Where	UF Entomology Steinmetz Hall, 1881 Natural Area Dr. Gainesville, FL 32608
Event	Check In starts at 8:30 am Contest starts at 9:00am Awards at 1:00pm
Cost	$10 per person. No charge for Cloverbuds participating in the Art Contest
Registration	Registration opens in 4-H Online October 1, 2024 and closes January 22, 2025
Contact	Program Content \| Dr. Rebecca Baldwin, baldwinr@ufl.edu Registration \| 4hevents@ifas.ufl.edu

Please bring a picnic to enjoy at the Natural Area Teaching Lab picnic area and hiking trails. The Florida Museum of Natural History (free) and the Butterfly Rainforest (admission cost) are also within walking distance.

Insect Collection Contest
The Insect Collection Contest will have divisions for Cloverbuds, Juniors, Intermediates, Seniors, and a Specialty Collection Division. Read more about each division in the rules below:

Click here for 2019 Insect Collection Contest Rules

Insect Collection Resources:
- Insect Collection 101
- Hints for Making a Winning Collection

Insect Art Contest
The Insect Art Contest is for 4-Hers to create art about entomology or made with insects. Art can take any form. Some examples would be posters, photography, painting, or jewelry. Be creative! A junior, intermediate, and senior winner will be selected. Participants can enter up to two art entries.

Resources:
- Insectathon Art Competition Rules

Entomology ID & Skillathon Contest

The 4-H Entomology ID & Skillathon Contest provides 4-H youth with opportunities to test their knowledge of entomology. Contest stations include insect identification, insect damage, hands-on skillathon stations, multiple choice questions on special topics, and insect collection judging. Seniors also participate in a quiz bowl.

Entomology ID & Skillathon Contest Stations

Station 1: Insect Identification & Non-Insect Arthropod Identification

Time: 60 minutes

Identify insects (based on the 100 common Florida insects) and non-insect arthropods and answer questions about each insect.

Station 1 Guidelines

Station 1 Study Guide

Station 2: Insect Damage
Time: 20 minutes

Identify damage to vegetables, fruits, trees, plants, people, animals, houses/structures and determine the insect causing the damage.

Resources

Station 3: Special Topic
Time: 20 minutes

Participants will answer a multiple-choice quiz about the topic for the given year. The topics will rotate each year on a 4-year cycle.

The topics included will be:
- Pollination (2019,2024)
- Asian Citrus Psyllid (2020,2025)
- Biological Control (2022, 2026)
- MythBUGsters (2023, 2027)
Each age category will have the following number of questions:
- Juniors – 10 multiple-choice
- Intermediates – 15 multiple-choice
- Seniors – 20 multiple-choice
Study Resources:

Pollination

https://smithsonianeducation.org/images/educators/lesson_plan/partners_in_pollination/pollen.pdf

Asian Citrus Psyllid

https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/care/pests-and-diseases/pests/management/citrus-psyllid-wasp.html

https://ipm.ifas.ufl.edu/Agricultural_IPM/asian.shtml

https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/citrus/acpsyllid.htm

https://bugs.ufl.edu/bug-pix/asian-citrus-psyllid/

Biological Control

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in120

https://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/manage/control-methods/biological-control/

http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/marionco/2019/02/07/biological-control-pests/

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN607

MythBUGsters

https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/pestalert/lovebug.htm

https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/lovebug.htm

https://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/347BBMyths.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8172003/

https://kids.niehs.nih.gov/topics/natural-world/wildlife/insects/cockroaches-facts

Station 4: Collection Judging
Time: 20 minutes

Participants will have to judge 2 classes each containing 4 collections. Participants will rank each class from 1 (best) to 4 (worst) and provide a written reason for their placement. Refer to the Collection Contest for information on how to judge a collection.
- Juniors will be provided with a rubric where they have to score the collections individually. They’ll have scales of 1-5 or ten questions per collection.
- Intermediates will have the same rubric as juniors but then a section where they can add written responses for reason for points given, three short comments per collection like “pin in wrong spot, insect at angle, wrong label position”
- Seniors will have the same rubric, but more justification needed. 5-10 comments per collection.

General Study Materials

INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dr. Rebecca Baldwin
Email: baldwinr@ufl.edu