Utah is a place of wonder for insects and a land of diversity. As a young boy, I was captivated by the world of insects and spiders, and now, as an old man, my fascination has only deepened. In a state that hosts over 1,100 species of bees and more than 600 species of spiders, it’s no surprise we encounter these creatures, and occasionally, they find their way into our homes.

A few years ago, I decided to see how many insects I could photograph in my backyard on the Wasatch Front. My project began as a diversion from writing – grabbing my camera with a macro lens, wandering around the backyard for 15 minutes to clear my head. My yard has an abundance of trees, bushes, grasses, forbs and a big garden to go with it. In the last two years, I have identified more than 500 species of six- and eight-leg critters in my yard.

If I could find that many insects in my backyard, I wondered what a statewide view would reveal.

Using iNaturalist, a website and app where scientists and community scientists collaborate on documenting the living world, I found over 140,000 observations representing over 4,500 species of little exoskeleton types in Utah. This compares to about 600 species of fish, mammals, birds and reptiles documented in the state.

I enlisted local experts to help better understand what lives around us and what we know about it. One of those experts, Rebecca Ray, is a native of Utah. Like many people growing up in Utah, she was raised by a father who feared spiders, a trait the entire family developed. She loved nature but recoiled at the sight of crawly things.

When she was a teenager, she came across a cat-faced spider sitting on a big orb web, a favorite of children all over Utah. She picked up a piece of peanut shell lying on the ground and threw it in the web. The spider ran over, picked up the shell and threw it out of the web. The spider faced her and shook, shaking the entire web. She caught a fly and threw it into the web. The spider ran over and feasted on it. It turned out the spider she’d been taught was her enemy was really a friend; it just took a little interaction to connect. Two worlds became one that day.

In her early 20s, Rebecca was in a science center in North Carolina, face to face with colossal orb weaver spiders like she had never seen before. It wasn’t long before she noticed something was missing: There was no glass between her and the spiders. To make sure, she cautiously and gently blew on the web, and it moved. She asked one of the people at the exhibit about the lack of an enclosure, and he responded there was no need. The spiders have everything they need: shelter, food and space; they will not leave. She was hooked; little did she know then that she would become known as the Spiderwoman of Utah.

Amanda Barth grew up by the Sonoran Desert in Arizona spying on insects and lizards around her backyard.  Throughout her science education and career, she focused on conservation, particularly drawn to work with insects. In 2019, she became the Rare Insect Conservation Coordinator for Utah, a new position created by the Legislature and coordinated through Utah State University. Like Rebecca, Amanda enthusiastically launched an effort to understand, document and communicate the diversity of crawly things in Utah – an overwhelming task they both love.

Amanda’s work focuses especially on at-risk species that face possible listing under the Endangered Species Act. For nearly every target species, she started from scratch. With little budget and no staff, she has used her skills to collaborate with local, state and federal agencies and non-profits to study dozens of species, from monarch butterflies to tiny velvet ants (which are actually small wasps, one of her favorites).

One of Amanda’s significant efforts is to include insect data in the State Wildlife Action Plan, a 10-year conservation blueprint used to determine management priorities and coordinate resources. Amanda sees this as a great opportunity to act and dedicate more resources towards understanding insect populations over a greater geographic area.

Utah’s wetlands provide a lush habitat supporting a broad, abundant spectrum of insects. The Great Salt Lake, with its brine flies and brine shrimp (a small crustacean), allow more specialized species that have adapted to the harsh environment to thrive without competition from other species. We have studied the brine shrimp for years but have little understanding of the brine fly, which is equally essential for migratory birds and likely more sensitive to lake fluctuation. Understanding the brine fly could lead to better management of the lake.

While most of Amanda’s work intersects with small groups of scientists and public land managers, community involvement is also integral. Community outreach not only educates the public about insect species and diversity but generates valuable data. The Utah Pollinator Pursuit uses observations from local communities to help define, understand and monitor the populations of pollinators in our state, information that informs conservation goals and decisions.

When Rebecca started exploring spiders and insects in her yard, she turned to iNaturalist to develop her expertise. Understanding and experiencing spiders was not enough; she had to contribute to their future. She soon became a presenter, panelist, coordinator and behind-the-scenes supporter of various community outreach events.

Rebecca is also an administrator of the Utah Society of Entomology page on Facebook. This friendly group relies on local experts and enthusiasts to identify species found across the state. Utah is also home to several bug-friendly events.

The Natural History Museum of Utah hosts multiple events, including the annual BUGfest, a weekend focused on all things buggy.

The annual City Nature Challenge, hosted by the Natural History Museum of Utah for the Wasatch Front, encourages communities to document things that crawl around in your backyard.

The Spider Festival at Antelope Island State Park, where spiders outnumber humans by about 1,000 to 1, hosts the Spider Festival each year.

The insect lab at Utah State University, which has a collection of over 6 million specimens of insects, offers guided tours and hosts outreach efforts throughout the year.

With the support of local outreach, Rebecca and Amanda are undaunted by the work ahead of them. Rebecca, Amanda, and I share a common dream: a world where all life matters, even the life of spiders and insects.

Rebecca captured it well: In addition to bumper stickers that say, “Start Seeing Motorcycles,” we need ones that say, “Start Seeing Spiders and Insects.”