Insect Study is about the most numerous animals on Earth and the surprising ways they shape our world. You'll observe insects up close, raise one through its life cycle, and learn how they help and challenge people. There are bugs everywhere, so you can start right outside your door.
Why it's worth it
Insects pollinate a big share of the food you eat, recycle fallen leaves and logs, and feed most of the birds you see. They also spread disease and eat crops. Once you learn to look closely, a single backyard holds hundreds of kinds, each with its own strange life. You'll raise one through metamorphosis, learn to name the major groups at a glance, and understand why scientists track monarchs and bees so carefully.
Start this week
- Go outside for 15 minutes with a magnifying glass and see how many different insects you can find on one plant or under one log.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of an Insect Study counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- Start your scrapbook or photo log for requirement 4, with the date, place, and a photo or sketch of each insect.
- Decide which insect you'll raise for requirement 3, like a caterpillar, mealworms, or painted lady larvae, and gather a container and food.
Plan ahead: Raising an insect through metamorphosis (3) takes weeks, and insects are easiest to find in warm months. Start requirements 3 and 4 as early in the season as you can.
Stay safe
- Know who in your group is allergic to stings, and keep their medicine handy. Leave stinging insects and unknown spiders alone.
- Use nets and jars instead of your hands, and wash up after handling insects or soil.
Requirements · 9
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).
Note: Collect only where it's allowed and within local laws, take only what you need, and don't harm the surrounding habitat
- Requirement 1
Safety
Tips for this section: Learn which insects can sting or bite and the first aid for each. Know if anyone in your group has allergies.
- Requirement 1a
Explain to your counselor the hazards you're most likely to face around ants and bees and how to anticipate, prevent, reduce, and respond to them
- Requirement 1b
Discuss how to prevent and treat health problems from working with ants and bees, including bites, stings, and anaphylactic shock
- Requirement 2
Anatomy
Tips for this section: Use a magnifying glass to study an insect's head, thorax, and abdomen, and learn to recognize a few major groups.
Example for this section: Draw an insect and label the head, thorax, abdomen, six legs, antennae, and wings. Then make flash cards for major orders, like beetles with hard wing covers and butterflies with scaly wings.
- Requirement 2a
Tell what sets insects apart from other animals
- Requirement 2b
Show how insects differ from spiders and millipedes
- Requirement 2c
Point to and name an insect's main body parts
- Requirement 2d
Describe the features that tell the major insect orders apart
- Requirement 3
Life cycles
Tips for this section: Raise a caterpillar or mealworm in a clean container and record what happens at each stage.
Example for this section: Raise mealworms in a container with oats and a slice of carrot. Record the date you see larva, pupa, and adult beetle. Compare that complete metamorphosis with a grasshopper, which grows through nymph stages.
- Requirement 3a
Compare the life histories of a grasshopper and a butterfly, and tell how they differ
- Requirement 3b
Raise an insect through complete metamorphosis from larva to adult, such as a moth or butterfly from a caterpillar. Check with natural resources authorities first so you don't take a protected species or collect where it's banned, and usually return it where you found it (ask your counselor)
- Requirement 4
Observation and analysis
Tips for this section: Bring a small notebook or camera on walks and keep adding insects you see. A field guide or app can help with identification.
Example for this section: A scrapbook page might show a photo of a ladybug on milkweed, the date and place, its order (Coleoptera), and one note: "eating aphids." Release insects where you found them after you photograph them.
- Requirement 4a
Discuss why the Outdoor Code and Leave No Trace Seven Principles matter in insect study, and explain how you followed them while observing, collecting, and identifying insects
- Requirement 4b
Observe 20 different species of live insects in their habitats, including insects from at least 4 orders
- Requirement 4c
Make a scrapbook of the 20 insects from 4b with photos, sketches, drawings, and articles. Label each with its common and scientific name when you can, and share it with your counselor
- Requirement 4d
Pick 8 species from your scrapbook and identify the role each plays in its ecosystem
- Requirement 5
Social insects
Tips for this section: Compare bees or ants that live in colonies with insects that live alone. Try an activity like watching an ant farm.
Example for this section: Compare a honeybee colony, with a queen, workers, and drones sharing jobs, to a solitary mason bee that builds its own nest. For your colony activity, set up an ant farm or watch a hive with a beekeeper.
- Requirement 5a
Tell some ways social insects differ from solitary insects
- Requirement 5b
Ant colony or beehive. Choose 1 of 2
- Requirement 5b1
Watch an ant farm (formicarium) colony. Find the queen and the workers, and explain to your counselor the different chambers in a colony
- Requirement 5b2
Study a beehive: take out the combs and find the queen, estimate how much brood there is, count the queen cells, and explain how to tell how much honey the hive holds. If you're allergic to bee stings, choose 5b1 instead
- Requirement 6
Ecology
Tips for this section: Watch flowers to see which insects visit, and think about which animals eat insects.
- Requirement 6a
Tell where insects fit in the food web, as food for fish, birds, mammals, and other insects
- Requirement 6b
Explain how insects pollinate plants
- Requirement 7
Insects and people
Tips for this section: Think about insects that help people and those that cause problems. Learn safer ways to handle pests than strong chemicals.
Example for this section: Explain how bees pollinate many fruits and vegetables people eat, and what colony collapse disorder could mean for the food supply. Then describe three ways farmers protect crops without insecticides, like rotating crops, releasing ladybugs to eat aphids, and covering rows with netting, with a pro and a con for each.
- Requirement 7a
Explain how bees and people depend on each other. Describe colony collapse disorder (CCD) and what might cause it, and discuss how it affects our food supply
- Requirement 7b
Describe 3 ways other than insecticides to keep insects from damaging crops and cutting harvests, and explain the pros and cons of each
- Requirement 8
Conservation
Tips for this section: Learn about insects that migrate, like monarch butterflies, and find out which insects are endangered.
Example for this section: Track monarch migration from Canada and the U.S. to Mexico on a map. Then pick an endangered insect, like the rusty patched bumble bee, and explain why its numbers dropped and what people are doing to help.
- Requirement 8a
Tell the migration route of an insect such as the monarch butterfly. Discuss the challenges it faces and how Scouts can help it thrive
- Requirement 8b
Learn about a threatened or endangered insect. Discuss the challenges it faces and how Scouts can help it thrive
- Requirement 9
Careers and hobbies. Choose 1 of 2
Tips for this section: Talk with an entomologist or extension agent, or try a hobby like beekeeping or butterfly gardening.
- Requirement 9a
Identify 3 careers that use insect study. Pick one and research its training, education, certification, experience, and startup costs, plus job outlook, starting pay, and advancement. Talk it over with your counselor, including whether it interests you
- Requirement 9b
Identify 3 careers that use insect study. Pick one and research its training, education, certification, experience, and startup costs, plus job outlook, starting pay, and advancement. Talk it over with your counselor, including whether it interests you
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
A butterfly house, insect zoo, or nature center
You can see live insects up close and ask staff how they raise and care for them.
How: Check the website for hours and youth programs, and go with your family or patrol. Ask whether a naturalist can answer questions.
A beekeeper's apiary
You can watch a working colony, see the comb and the queen, and learn how bees communicate.
How: Have an adult contact a local beekeepers' association and ask about a supervised visit. Wear the protective gear they give you.
A university entomology department or insect collection
Pinned collections show thousands of species, and researchers can explain how they identify and study them.
How: Have a parent email the department and ask if a graduate student or curator could show a few Scouts around.
Where it can lead
- EntomologistStudies insects for farms, museums, or public health; needs a science degree.
- Pest management technicianFinds and controls pests in homes and businesses with a state license.
- BeekeeperKeeps honeybee colonies for honey and to pollinate crops; can be a business or a hobby.
- Extension agentHelps farmers and gardeners identify insects and solve pest problems.
- Public health vector specialistTracks mosquitoes and ticks that spread disease and works to control them.
Ask yourself
- Are there insects you're nervous about or think are gross, and did that change as you learned more?
- What insect surprised you the most, and why?
- When you got stuck identifying one, who or what helped you figure it out?
- How do you see your yard, a park, or a garden differently now?
- What could you do at home or in your community to help insects that are struggling?
Good questions to ask an entomologist, beekeeper, or extension agent
- What got you interested in insects in the first place?
- Which insect around here do you find the most fascinating, and why?
- How do you decide whether an insect is a pest or just a visitor?
- What's happening to bees and butterflies in our area, and how can young people help?
- What do you do on a normal workday?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Plan a bug hunt during a campout with nets, jars, and field guides, and release insects afterward.
- Connect Scouts with a county extension office or nature center insect expert.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- County extension office — Help identifying insects and learning about pests.
- Xerces Society (opens in a new tab) — Information on pollinators and protecting insects.
- Nature center or natural history museum — Insect collections and experts who can answer questions.
- Monarch Watch (opens in a new tab) — Monarch life cycle, migration maps, and tagging projects young people can join.
- Entomological Society of America (opens in a new tab) — Insect facts and information on careers in entomology.
- USDA Forest Service: Pollinators (opens in a new tab) — Meet the bees, butterflies, and other insects that pollinate plants.
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Endangered Species (opens in a new tab) — Search for endangered insects and learn how they're being protected.
Pairs well with
Into this? Explore more
Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.