I started young, and I'm still holding that net!  My parents, sister and I...uh, remember the 70's?

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Since I was just a few years old and observed that Bug-balls (Pill Bugs/Isopods) "only bounce ONE time", I have been interested in bugs. I had a very large collection of dead insects by the time I had completed elementary school. I also enjoyed watching and caring for live, captive bugs. I remember feeding 11 bumblebees to a flower spider, once. In fact, many of my childhood memories have some connection to my lifelong hobby. Yes, I even dream about bugs...more regularly than I'd like to admit!

I caught Phasmid-fever in about 1994, although I've had Diapheromera species- Common American Walkingsticks- in my dried collection since childhood. My Grandma Sandy collected them for me in Brownsville, Texas and the first thing I'd want my grandparents to do when they rolled into town in the RV each summer, was show me the bugs they'd brought me! During high school and through my teens, I took a break from the hobby to pursue sports, dating, and other MUCH less interesting hobbies;-). There weren't any  good books back then, or nearby exhibits to really understand the scope and diversity of this one group of insects, but over the years I was still able to obtain 4 species of stick-insects from local pet shops. This was my reintroduction to the hobby!

Years later, when I "got online", I immediately became aware that my fascination with stick-insects was shared with others from around the world.  As I met other experienced breeders, I quickly learned that this was more than just an interest for some people. I don't know when, exactly, the turning point was for me, but it wasn't long before I had quite an impressive collection (bordering on ridiculousness). I have to say here and now that this has never been a one-person operation. I suppose most people can say this, no matter what they do, but my parents have contributed to my interests in this hobby in countless and ways. My mother is probably the greatest breeder of stick-insects in American history. At one time we had nearly one hundred species of stick-insects in various stages of culture (eggs, nymphs, adults).  She put hours into the hobby, each day- cleaning cages, feeding and spraying, collecting eggs, etc. She had a personal relationship with nearly every stick-insect in the house (most were in cages, most of the time). Without her hourly attention, it is unlikely that we would have been able to successfully culture six species of leaf-insects, simultaneously. Whatever she was doing, it worked! We were both pretty obsessed and overwhelmed much of the time. But it didn't stop, because we loved it! Please check out her blog on Mexican Bugs here: Lesgobuggin

Though we don't keep many sticks anymore, we always have at least one kind of live bug, in each household. Mostly, our interests in the hobby have re-manifested themselves in the form of photography (a picture's a lot easier to care for than a living animal). For several years, and with the help of my mother, my personal goal was to keep and photograph every possible stick-insect species. We did pretty well, together.  In time it became difficult to locate species that we'd not had in culture.  And we were getting too many "favorite species" that we didn't want to discontinue breeding after one generation (the whole original point was to raise each species for one generation, observing and taking pics. for the website). Because of a convergence of factors, we were finally able to cull the herd. My personal interests gravitated towards bugs in general, as an entire group.  

Dad- He calls himself the "Busdriver", but he's the guy that would custom design, create and maintain all our cages for housing stick-insects and all the equipment we took on collecting trips. He went to Arizona with me twice, for two weeks each time.  He is much more than "The Busdriver", picking up the largest living Dynastes granti beetle I'll probably ever see, at just over 3 inches (photo). He's a good guy to have around when you need to fix burned out sparkplug wires in the middle of nowhere...with tinfoil! Go Captain Contraption! He'll wrangle snakes (well, roadkill), he'll dig dungbeetles outta cowpies!  And he'll cook breakfast every morning (after he washes his hands, of course)!

Both my parents also collect rocks and there's nothing I like doing more than hanging out with them, carrying my camera and a few jars, looking for rocks and bugs. They live in Mexico and send me pictures of all the interesting things they come across (or that come across them...some Big ol' bugs down there!).

This website was only ever meant to be a resource for fellow hobbyists (originally for stick-insects). We've kept and photographed many species, and love summer collecting trips and daily work in our bugrooms.  I enjoy presenting my collections of invertebrates to kids, and watching their appreciation and wonderment of the natural world expanding.  But everyone has a fascination with bugs on some level, be it curiosity or fear! As children we are curious about everything, especially the small and colorful moving things around us. It is sad that many parents teach their children to fear these mostly harmless, VERY diverse specks of life.

Appreciating the world of nature is what I do. My favorite pastime is walking through nature and seeing and photographing what lives and grows. It is wonderful to have lived here in Portland, Oregon for 33 years and STILL be able to go into my own backyard and see something I've NEVER seen before. That's nature for ya!  It's AMAZING!

Thank you for visiting, and enjoy!

Peter Clausen

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