MARION — Entomologist and science educator Bryan Man believes that humans have a “natural, built-in love of bugs, insects and all little crawly things.”

Man, professionally known as Professor Bugman, visited the Elizabeth Taber Library in Marion on Saturday, July 29 to help reinforce that built-in love with an “arthropod petting zoo” where he displayed hissing cockroaches, leaf bugs, beetles, millipedes and more to a crowd of curious kids.

But that’s not all, everyone in the audience had the chance to pet or even hold some of Man’s bugs.

“If it’s not hands-on, what’s the point?” he said, explaining that having a hands-on learning activity at a young age is integral for children to maintain their inherent fascination with insects.

“We're born with a love of bugs and a love of nature,” said Man. “And then that gets wiped out of us by watching everybody else have this fear of [bugs].”

Man’s own interest in bugs came from playing the video game “StarCraft” when he was in high school.

“There was a faction [in StarCraft] that was a hive mind insectoid race and I thought they were so cool,” he explained. “And then I started to learn that they were based on actual living animals.”

This fascination followed Man through college where he studied plant, soil, and insect science at UMass Amherst, before earning a master’s degree in entomology from North Carolina State University.

“[Bugs are] inspirational, they're cool [and] they do so much,” said Man. “But they're not at the forefront of our cultural consciousness, our desires, our joys and passions. And I decided that I want to be part of that force that's changing that.”

At Saturday’s presentation, Man taught kids the difference between bugs, insects, arthropods and arachnids, and explained how different bugs live, breed and protect themselves in the wild.

Marion resident Shelley Visinho “loves bugs” and brought her three grandchildren to the presentation.

“I brought my little grandson, Quincy, because he’s pretty skeptical about most bugs and so I thought this would help him out,” she said.

And Man’s presentation did help seven-year-old Quincy Conners.

“Sometimes bugs can creep me out, but now that I know a little more about them I’m not as scared of them,” he said. “I was afraid of them a lot but now I’m not afraid of them.”

Professor Bugman will return to the Elizabeth Taber Library on Aug. 5 at 11 a.m. for a “hide-a-bug” program where kids can design and build a shelter for a bug. To register, call the Elizabeth Taber Library at 508-748-1252.