Damselfly picked to become official state insect - News

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Mar. 05, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Damselfly picked to become official state insect

By JAMES HAUG
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

PHOTO COURTESY OF RAY BRUNN

The vivid dancer damselfly is a blue insect with transparent wings that "appear silver when rapidly beating in the sunlight."

A bug with the Nevada colors of silver and blue might seem like a natural to become the state's official insect, but fourth-graders from Beatty Elementary School near Bermuda and Pebble roads were not content to rest their case.

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"It just isn't pretty," their nominating essay noted. "It serves Nevadans by contributing to our economy and quality of life."

The damselfly preys on mosquitoes and other pests. It's found throughout the state. It was first classified in 1865, the year after Nevada became a state.

The fourth graders' research convinced a panel of scientists and educators on Wednesday to select the damselfly as the "official state insect" from more than 70 nominations sent in from schoolchildren across Nevada.

It's up to the Legislature to ratify the selection.

Beatty fourth-grade teacher David Slater said he will take three students to Carson City to witness that for themselves. While it's hard to predict when legislation will come up for a vote, Slater said it could be as soon as next week.

The field trip to the Legislature will be paid for by contest sponsors Truly Nolen Pest Control and the Las Vegas chapter of Kids Voting USA.

State Sen. Joyce Woodhouse, D-Henderson, and Assemblyman Lynn Stewart, R-Henderson, co-wrote the legislation that authorized the contest.

Forty-one other states have official insects and/or state butterflies.

When contest details were first announced in December, Slater recalled thinking, "This is going to be time consuming."

So he let his students take the initiative. "From a class of 30, seven came back with bugs," Slater said.

The seven students prepared essays and read them to the class, which then selected 9-year-old Lexie Arancibia's choice of the vivid dancer damselfly.

"It was a remarkable find," Slater said.

The class then worked collectively to research and write the contest entry. Slater said his contribution was limited to editing and footnoting.

Slater, 60, said this has been one of his most rewarding experiences in education since becoming a teacher six years ago after a long career in casino surveillance.

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug@reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. anything to waste tax payer dollars wrote on March 05, 2009 07:10 PM: what next ? are we going to adopt hepatitis as the state disease so we can drain tax money there too. Joe Bama wrote on March 05, 2009 01:38 PM: Did the barfly even make the short list? It contributes to the states economy as well. wildbill wrote on March 05, 2009 10:36 AM: Glad to see all the unimportant problems have been solved by the legislature and they have time for this horses**t. Rasputin wrote on March 05, 2009 10:31 AM: Forgive my lack of knowledge on the subject, but what, exactly, is the "Las Vegas chapter of Kids Voting USA"? I was under the impression that the U.S. Constitution mandated that one cannot vote until you reach your majority at the age of 18, at which time you are also eligible for government service. Huh. Tom, Burbank wrote on March 05, 2009 09:36 AM: Did they even consider the Hairy Harry Reid bug? It also features the state colors, with it's silver hair and blue language, and since it taxes everyone and kills jobs, each resident of Nevada experiences it by getting stung on a regular basis. BeLikeBilly wrote on March 05, 2009 08:26 AM: With many in the state government thinking the world is about to end without a tax inrease I thought this would be the perfect "insect" for our state. Steve T wrote on March 05, 2009 08:16 AM: The damselfly is not a bug. It is a member of the order odonata. Bugs are in the order hemiptera. Please correct this. Nevada Native wrote on March 05, 2009 07:47 AM: Hallelujah! We have a state insect. Here I thought we had enough on our plate to deal with (you know, the mortgage crisis, budget crisis, etc), but luckily our legislators could fit this important legislation onto their calendars.... (Remove tongue from cheek) Bill wrote on March 05, 2009 04:33 AM: Shoot. I was rooting for Chuck Muth. Jim wrote on March 05, 2009 03:13 AM: Tax the damselfly. Make it contribute in order to be the state insect. We need as much money as we can get nowadays.