Kids to lawmakers: Indiana needs a state insect

Illinois has its Monarch butterfly. Ohio has its ladybug. And Indiana has, well, nothing.

No official state insect.

Now a second-grade class at Cumberland Elementary School in West Lafayette has launched a credible campaign to give the honor to the firefly.

More than 800 postcards and letters were sent to a state lawmaker requesting that Indiana name the firefly its state insect. Students at the school also worked to gather 700 signatures in support and sent letters to Gov. Mike Pence and other state officials.

The result: State Sen. Ron Alting — the Lafayette Republican who received the firefly-decorated postcards — visited the school to tell the pupils he plans to take up their cause during the 2016 legislative session that begins Tuesday.

And it's a bipartisan effort. State Rep. Sheila Klinker, a Lafayette Democrat, also has given her support.

Will firefly proudly glow as Indiana's state insect?

A failure to act would have potentially embarrassing consequences, students say, because all but four states have an official insect.

As 8-year-old Kayla Xu describes it: “Wouldn’t it be sad if Indiana was the 50th state to get its insect?”

Alting said it’s clear the kids have done their homework to show that Indiana is out of step with most of the country. And their arguments are hard to resist.

“They are tougher than any lobbyist I know," Alting said.

What would the designation mean for the firefly? Becoming the official state insect would up the bug's prestige among Hoosiers. But more so, it would serve as an educational opportunity, according to a group of Purdue University entomologists.

Indiana wouldn't be alone in honoring the firefly. Two other states — Pennsylvania and Tennessee — also have embraced types of the bug as their state insect, according to the Smithsonian.

Alting's bill requests that the state designate the Say’s firefly as the official state insect, noting that Hoosiers have “long enjoyed the beauty and mystique of firefly displays.” The bill also notes that a naturalist from Posey County, Thomas Say, named the Say’s firefly in the 1800s.

Maggie Samudio’s second-grade class discovered Indiana was an outlier in 2014 during a project she does with her students every year in which she asks her class to gather facts about all 50 states.

During the project, Xu noticed Indiana stuck out — and not in a way she felt was acceptable. No insect.

Xu asked Samudio, “What can we do to change that?” And Samudio got to work.  She contacted entomologists and began teaching her students about the people who are in charge of proposing new laws.

“I’m a believer in the teachable moment. I’ve been teaching 39 years, and when somebody has a question like Kayla did, we always stop and try to investigate or find time to investigate it later,” Samudio said.

Now they hope lawmakers make the firefly official in 2016. But the effort may have competition. Another lawmaker has proposed naming the Monarch as the official state butterfly.

Xu says it’s important for the firefly to become the state insect because “they are fun to watch.”

But Alting says the issue is bigger than Indiana adding to its list of Hoosier symbols. It’s a lesson in democracy.

“This is the first opportunity for government to respond to 400 elementary kids to let them know that your government is working for you,” he said, “and that the system works.”

Call Star reporter Chelsea Schneider at (317) 444-6077. Follow her on Twitter: @indystarchelsea.

Quiz: Can you name Indiana's official rock, song, river, gun?

Other Hoosier emblems

State Flag: The flag was adopted by the General Assembly in 1917 as part of the state's Centennial celebration. The flag was designed by Paul Hadley of Mooresville.

State Bird: The cardinal was adopted in 1933.

State Flower: The peony was adopted in 1957.

State River: The Wabash River received the designation in 1996.

State Song: The song “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away” was adopted in 1913. It was written by Paul Dresser of Terre Haute.

State Tree: The tulip tree was adopted in 1931.

State Poem: The poem “Indiana” by Arthur Franklin Mapes was adopted in 1963.

State Language: The 1984 General Assembly named English as the state's language.

State Rifle: In 2012, lawmakers gave the designation to the Grouseland Rifle, which was made by Col. John Small of Vincennes in the early 1800s. Lawmakers also required the Grouseland Foundation to approve the sale of any duplications or reproductions of the rifle.

State Aircraft: In 2015, the P-47 Thunderbolt received the designation. The plane is the only World War II production aircraft built in Indiana. It was made in Evansville from 1942 to 1945.

State Pie: The sugar cream pie is widely regarded as the state pie but hasn't officially been given the designation.

Source: Indiana Historical Bureau