Some stress from the holidays is credited to buying gifts for others. To the University of Florida’s Entomology Club, dead insects are the perfect gift for a loved one or friend.
Each holiday, the club gets creative by using the insects that entomology students must turn in for classes. Evan Waite, the president of the Entomology Club, said the 30 to 150 bugs per student were being wasted after classes were over, which can leave up to thousands of insects.
The idea started in 2015 and Waite said the club has raised more than $3,000 in sales in 2015 alone. The club paired it as a gift idea for different holidays and the money came in.
“People loved the ones that were Christmas themed – something about Santa hats on bugs drives people wild,” Waite said.
After the holiday season, the demand went down for Christmas-themed bugs, so the club came up with the idea of making heart-shaped ornaments and necklaces for Valentine’s Day with messages such as “Bee Mine” on them.
“The other extremely popular item we have year-round is our ornaments that contain butterflies and moths,” Waite said. “These appeal even to people who don't like insects due to their aesthetic value. We have been calling them ornaments but really they are just interesting decoration pieces any time of year.”
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