SciComm and the insect zoo: girls and boys, local vs exotic diversity

Today I visited the daycare my daughters' used to go to with specimens from the insect zoo. So fun! I love the enthusiasm the kids have for all things living. I also notice that the girls are generally much more interested in holding the animals than the boys. I wonder where that difference in socialization comes in. I think it is found in differences in interest in animals with backbones, too. In trying to learn about research on that (yes, I'm procrastinating), I came across this interesting article: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0023152

It turns out kids are more interested in exotic biodiversity they only know of virtually to local real biodiversity. I'm glad I found that. I think next time I do an insect zoo visit I'll include locally collected insects and spiders so that they can get to know what is here, and appreciate that, too.