Lloyd Hollett

Shown here, a Scarlet Swallowtail butterfly perches on Newfoundland Insectarium director Lloyd Hollett., Photo by Rhonda Hayward/The Telegram

Lloyd Hollett 2 Bonne Bay Road 709-635-4545

Lloyd Hollett 2 Bonne Bay Rd 709-635-4545

But Lloyd Hollett certainly doesn't sympathize with you.As the founder and director of the Newfoundland Insectarium, Hollett is a true insect afficianado.

On Friday and Saturday he was at the Highland Square Mall in New Glasgow, often with a walking stick insect named Rose crawling on the front of his shirt.The six-legged insect that's about the length of your hand, would elicit screams of shock from passers-by, especially when Hollett let it sit on his face, its antennae curiously quivering and its hooked feet grasping his cheeks.

Hollett's displays of live tarantulas, scorpions, millipedes the size of cigars and black widow spiders fascinated many but repulsed others.

He thinks people are freaked out by bugs because they're something that's often unfamiliar.He says after people take the time to find out more about bugs, they relax.

The common aversion to insects is something Hollett can't quite comprehend.He says he doesn't understand why animals, with their fur, teeth and claws are thought of as cute and cuddly but bugs are creepy."Usually when you have an extra set of legs people don't think they're nice," he says as the six-legged insect twitches on the front of his shirt.

The reactions of people as they passed his insect display ranged from shock and fear to fascination and curiousity.
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Hollett thinks bugs could be a lot more popular, if only people would spend more time learning about them.His insects, whether they were reviled or the subject of fascination, didn't seem to mind either way.

Twas good to see our buddy Lloyd Hollett, owner of the wonderful Newfoundland Insectarium in Deer Lake also!!

That's it for right now :-) Time fer a wee bit of a rest.

See ya again soon :-) :-)

Lloyd Hollett, owner and operator of the Newfoundland Insectarium in Deer Lake, holds still as two Owl butterflies pitch on his hands in the Bowring Park greenhouse in St. John's.

Newfoundland Insectarium co-owner and operator Lloyd Hollett adds a colourful flowering plant to the popular butterfly house.
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Co-owner and operator Lloyd Hollett said the decision to open year-round wasn't hard to make given the growth of the four-season tourism industry.
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But given the increase in winter tourism and the fact that the facility was designed to be open year-round, Hollett said the financial risk in doing so is minimal.

Insectarium staff have been offering an outreach program in recent years, with Hollett and his colleagues travelling as far afield as Ontario to give

educational presentations at schools during the winter months.

Now that the facility is going to stay open during the winter, Hollett said there will be even greater opportunities for schools in this province to use the facility in conjunction with their courses.
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The insectarium is located next to one of the busiest snowmobile thoroughfares in the province and Hollett is considering adding attractions to entice snowmobilers to stop by and warm up along the route.

He said the insectarium will be changing its signs and marketing material to add a new slogan â€" Small Wonders, Big Memories â€" which he and his partners believe effectively captures the experience of visiting the facility.

(Pictured at right: Lloyd Hollett of the Newfoundland Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion holds an Owl Butterfly, an insect that protects itself by "mimicking."
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Lloyd Hollett, of the Newfoundland Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion, brought his traveling exhibit to the high school as part of a wider tour of Ontario.During five one-hour presentations, Hollett took students from grades 9-12 on a wondrous journey detailing how different insects and arachnids have adapted to survive and thrive in environments ranging from southern Alberta to South Africa.

The collector spent the first half of the show lecturing about his live and mounted collection, and then gave students a chance in the second half to handle the insects he had been talking about.
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As Hollett explains, the sting of the wasp doesn't kill the spider, but merely paralyzes it.
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Students alternately smiled and winced as Hollett described why the bugs descend on a dung pile so quickly.

"They like their food fresh and they like their food warm," he says."Nobody likes their food cold."

More than one student began rubbing their eyes, after Hollett told them seven out of 10 people have microscopic mites living on their eyelashes.

Other interesting insects or spiders featured in his show included: the Goliath Bird-Eating Spider, named because the plate-sized adult is known for climbing up into birds' nests and devouring chicks; a Jungle Nymph - a bright-green insect from northeastern Australia that can camouflage itself as a leaf or plant stalk; and an Owl Butterfly that deters hungry birds by spreading grey wings that look like the face of an owl.

Students at the school were thrilled with the presentation, although not all were inspired to become entomologists.

Jodi Lawrence held out her hand to take a Wandering Leaf from Hollett.