RUPERT, Idaho — Growing up in Malad, Idaho, Jason Thomas was surrounded by agriculture. But with his parents in the retail furniture business, he knew very little about farming. He has, however, always loved animals.

While pursuing a bachelor’s degree with a plan to teach high school students, that love of animals had him rethinking a career in education for a career in zoology. An adviser at the university set him on a different course with one question — what do you call a zoologist with a job?

Zoologist with a job

The answer was an entomologist. Jobs in zoology are limited, but entomologists are always in demand because insect pests can cause costly damage to crops and structures.

But not all insects and spider species cause damage. In fact, the vast majority are beneficial or benign. Of all the insect species in the world, only about 1% are a significant pest to humans, said Thomas, who is now an extension educator with the University of Idaho.

The problem is most people’s gut reaction is to kill any bugs they see. With his emphasis on integrated pest management, he wants people to tackle pest management with a research-based approach.

“Just because you see a bug … doesn’t mean you have a problem,” he said.

People have an emotional response to bugs, but he wants people to think twice before saying “kill them all” or spraying them.

“Don’t just try to tackle it immediately, you need to do research and see if it’s a problem,” he said.

New website

To that end, he and others with the university developed the Idaho Insect Identification website to help people identify and find out more about bugs, whether they’re a problem and give them options if they are.

Spiders, one of the most maligned creatures, help control pests such as gnats, mosquitos, flies and many other flying insects. Worldwide, spiders eat between 400 million tons and 800 million tons of insects annually, he said.

“So they provide a very important service to humans, keeping insects in check,” he said.

In addition to the identification website, he started a hands-on educational program with his collection of insects and arachnids — which includes hissing cockroaches, hairy tarantulas, stealth scorpions, gnarly beetles and more.

Insect road show

He started taking the show on the road in 2018 — not long after he went to work for the university — bringing his menagerie to 4-H functions, community events, classrooms and county fairs.

The whole idea is to make people comfortable with bugs and getting them to think twice before they squash or otherwise eliminate creepy crawlers.

The program is primarily aimed at children, to reach them before the bug-bad mentality sets in. But he’s also educated adults.

“The younger the kid, the more I can get them to hold an exotic insect or spider. It’s harder with older kids and adults,” he said.

Younger children are more malleable, and it’s easier to get them to change their mind, he said.

It’s all supervised — with specific instructions for anyone handling the bugs — to make sure the bugs and people are safe and no one has a bad experience. He has angered some fearful teachers, however, that didn’t want to touch the bugs, asking the students if their teacher tells them to do hard things in a somewhat “practice what you preach” challenge.

Some of the children are really excited, and some are scared, he said.

“Once they see it’s not hurting anybody, most of the kids will hold it,” he said.

It’s been rewarding giving people an experience of doing something new and helping them to see the beauty of nature and how wonderful and amazing insects are, he said.

“Some kids or people are scared to death of spiders and by the end of it, they want to get a tarantula as a pet,” he said.

“I genuinely enjoy helping people and helping them gain knowledge. I like to let people have an experience, take science and make it easier to understand,” he said.

More than 12,000 people, mostly youths, have participated in the program.

In a survey of more than 400 of those youths, 86% said they felt more comfortable around bugs than before the training and 83% indicated a greater interest in learning more about bugs.

With the program established, Thomas is now training teachers and others to take the reins — borrowing his creepy crawlers for their presentations.

Age: 33

Occupation: Entomologist

Position: Assistant professor and extension educator, University of Idaho, Minidoka County

Location: Rupert, Idaho

Family: Wife, Elizabeth; three sons, ages 6 and 4-year-old twins

Focus: Integrated pest management

Education: Master’s degree in entomology, Texas A&M, 2017; internship, Purdue University, 2014; bachelor’s degree in Spanish education with a minor in biology, Brigham Young University-Idaho, 2014

Interests: Insect identification, biological control, video production, game-based learning

Developed: Idaho Insect Identification website; barn owl box program to control voles

You Tube channel: The Insect Hunter

Creator: Pest Friends pest management board game, created with Grant Loomis, extension educator for Blaine County

Affiliations: Entomological Society of America, National Association of County Agricultural Agents

Website: https://www.uidaho.edu/extension/insect-id