Are these your bugs?
First of all, they’re not bugs. A bug is an insect with mouth-sucking parts. Insects are what we’re 
talking about here. That’s probably my main beef with Americans’ ideas about insects. It’s like calling all bears pandas. It doesn’t make any sense—the family is called insects and a bug is a type of beetle.When people are like, "Oh, so you like bugs!" I'm like, "Well, yeah, I do like bugs, but really I like insects." I’m a bit pedantic about that. Hey, man, not all Beatles are called John Lennon.

Got it. What’s wrong with a nice dog or cat?
I never thought I could learn much from a dog or cat. They sleep when we sleep. They eat when we eat. I’m into observing animals being as wild as they can be in a captive environment.

You've filmed in some wild locations—Lost in Hawaii and The Lord of the Rings in New Zealand.
New Zealand has these prehistoric-feeling forests, and Hawaii’s got scorpions and turtles. I became an animal wrangler on set. Here's an interesting thing about L.A.—it's overrun with black widow spiders. 
I could find you one on the street in 10 minutes.

For more of our interview with Dominic Monaghan, check out the November issue of Maxim on newsstands now!