A web of deception: The strange tale of the $50,000 insect heist

‘Bug Out’, an engrossing new four-part documentary on IMDb TV, shines a light on one of the oddest cases in the annals of crime, which plunged detectives into a little-known and perilous underworld. James Rampton speaks to those involved

The robbers took 80 per cent of the insectarium’s entire collection (IMDb TV)

Michael Zanetich, a detective with the Philadelphia Police Department, recalls the most bizarre case of his career. “We’ve investigated everything here from petty thefts to robberies, homicides and rapes. We’ve pretty much covered the whole gamut. But I’ve never investigated anything with bugs before.

“Some thefts are strange, some domestics are strange, but I don’t think there’s anything as strange as bugs being stolen. Who on earth reports that their bugs were stolen?”

Zanetich is referring to what is surely one of the oddest cases in the annals of crime: the notorious story of the “bug heist”. On 24 August 2018, a staggering $50,000 worth of living bugs were stolen from the Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion – the first creepy-crawly zoo in the US.