Hotter summers to blame for insect-adverse kids.

I fondly remember going out to fields and wooded areas to track down insects and other small critters in the hopes of catching some of the cooler ones, like praying mantises or salamanders. I’m sure I’m not alone in this among people in my age group, but this childhood phase appears to be getting phased out among younger generations.

▼ It is said that the praying mantis’s deadliest predators are kids who forget to poke holes in lids.

According to a 2022 survey by the National Institution for Youth Education, 31.5 percent of children asked said that they’ve almost never tried to catch an insect. This is a significant increase from 19.9 percent 10 years earlier.

While praying mantises are popular in Japan too, the undisputed king of insects for kids has got to be the rhinoceros beetle, known as “kabutomushi” here, which literally means “samurai helmet bug.” These sizable insects are so popular they can often be bought at pet stores or even specialty boutiques, sometimes at steep prices. They’re also the closest things kids can get to real-life Pokémon that can battle each other by butting their horned heads.

However, a report by TBS program N Star spoke with naturalist Hiroshi Sasaki, who said that interest in rhinoceros beetles has been waning. He cites the two main reasons as being that parents are also increasingly skittish around bugs and that it’s just too hot to go out and interact with insects these days.

Readers of the news online had a mixture of reactions, with some lamenting the loss of playtime with bugs and others feeling it doesn’t make a difference either way.

“Kids aren’t catching cicadas and crayfish either. It’s sad.”
“These kids can’t touch beetles while I’m here battling spiders and roaches every day.”
“I hate summer so much.”
“Everything seems to be going away.”
“I work near the harbor, and I don’t see as many people fishing either. The wind is like a hair dryer.”
“I can touch them, but it’s not as exciting as when I was a child. Probably better for the beetles.”
“Kids often get into bugs through manga and video games featuring them. Maybe there aren’t any popular ones now?”
“Unfortunately, that’s not the kind of thing you can push on a child. They have to get into it organically.”
“I don’t think it’s a problem that kids aren’t playing with beetles.”
“Rhinoceros beetles seem like big cockroaches to me.”

I often thought those bugs were alike myself. When you break down the characteristics of both rhinoceros beetles and cockroaches found in Japanese homes, it seems like the similarities far outweigh the differences. The biggest, and probably most crucial, difference between the two is that rhinoceros beetles usually move really slowly and are easier to keep track of than those sneaky roaches.

In that way, it’s probably good that kids spend time with large beetles and get accustomed to some docile six-legged creatures, so they won’t be quite as distraught when they inevitably come across the more unpleasant ones in the comfort of their own homes.

Source: TBS News Dig, Hachima Kiko
Featured image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso 1, 2
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