BugQuest: Connecting Canadians with the Insects Around Them

When people think about biodiversity, they often picture birds, mammals, trees, or wildflowers. Insects are just as important, but they are often overlooked. Yet they pollinate plants, recycle nutrients, support food webs, and make up a huge part of the living diversity around us.

One of the challenges with insects is that they are easy to miss. Many are tiny, seasonal, or difficult to identify by sight alone. This means that even in places where people care deeply about nature, the insect life around them often remains largely unseen.

BugQuest is a national biodiversity engagement program led by the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics at the University of Guelph. The project invites schools, community groups, farms, museums, gardens, and other public-facing sites across Canada to help document local insect biodiversity.

Participating sites host a Malaise trap, a tent-like insect trap that collects flying insects over time. These samples are later identified using DNA barcoding, helping build a clearer picture of the insects living in different parts of the country.

What makes BugQuest especially exciting is that it connects science with education and public engagement. A trap can become a point of curiosity in a schoolyard, garden, or community space. It gives students and visitors the chance to ask questions, look more closely at the life around them, and become part of a real national research effort.

BugQuest is not just about collecting insects. It is also about helping people notice biodiversity in places they already know well and creating new opportunities to connect with science through the living world around them. To learn more about BugQuest visit https://bioscan.life/bugquest/.