Grab a handful of writhing maggots and cheer your favorite cockroach racing to victory: It's Insectapalooza 2007, Saturday, Oct. 20, at Cornell's Department of Entomology in Comstock Hall, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

This all-things-buggy event is free and open to the public.

A 6-foot-tall bee mascot will greet visitors, while race fans cheer their favorite American cockroaches at the four-lane track. The insect zoo will give a close-up view of many of the insects and arthropods that populate our planet. See "deadly" tarantulas and scorpions. How much can a Hercules beetle really lift? Why are they called "kissing bugs"? Videos will highlight the bizarre and beautiful world of bees, beetles, butterflies and their buddies.

There will be more than a dozen hands-on exhibits. Find out about the mosquitoes that transmit West Nile Virus, and understand how insects influence global health. See bedbugs and learn about their blood-sucking habits. Go splashing around -- search for aquatic insects in the "pondering insects" pond. Hold a hissing cockroach and enlist in Cornell's campaign to count ladybugs.

For more information, see http://www.entomology.cornell.edu/IthacaCampus/Insectapalooza.