RED MUST HAVE been exhausted.

An excited horde of prekindergartners swarmed outside his 20-gallon glass home, giggling and pointing, chattering and shrieking. But the 4-foot ball python slept through it all--coiled in a comfortable, spiraling ball, soaking in the warmth of a red heat lamp.

His lack of legs and wings doesn't stop the brown snake with black spots from being one of the main attractions at The Bug Box Insect Zoo. Located in Spotsylvania County on State Route 208 just past Four-Mile Fork, the museum is crawling with critters--bugs, spiders, reptiles and more.

Fish tanks bubble when the one-room zoo--packed from ceiling to floor with slithering, squirming specimens--isn't hosting visitors. But the sounds of excited guests often drown out the gurgles when The Bug Box hosts curious young groups from schools, camps, libraries and day-care centers.

Designed to educate the public about the value of insects and other creatures, the zoo is a community outreach program of the ServisPros pest management company. It typically houses more than 30 types of local and exotic critters, ordered from suppliers in places like Arizona, Texas and California. Some insects are donated by homeowners who come in search of clues about the bugs that are well, bugging them.

The relationship between pest-control company and insect zoo might sound strange, at first. But it really is quite natural, said Cindy Robinson, who co-owns ServisPros and Bug Box with her husband, Barry.

"You would think that it's a conflict," she said, "but it's really not, because The Bug Box teaches people to pay attention to the environment and not step on every bug they see."

That's a good thing, said Bug Box "Bugologist Extraordinaire" Wendy Platt, because bugs can help humans by getting rid of garbage, pollinating plants, even helping to solve crimes.

"Pest means wrong place, wrong time," Platt said, like termites that munch on the walls or wasps that build their nests outside the front door.

"Even the insects you think of as pests are not pests all the time," she said.

Miss Millie helped Platt explain that concept to a group of 4- and 5-year-olds from Merit School of Stafford last week. She asked them what they thought the giant African millipede--which can grow to 12 inches in length and claim about 300 legs--likes to eat.