"Have you ever wondered what pollinators are visiting your garden or what that black-and-yellow striped bug was? In California, we have an incredible diversity of insects, which may be more difficult to tell apart than you realize. At this interactive event, you will learn how to identify bees and their lookalikes, then put your newfound knowledge to the test! Along the way, you'll also learn why mimicry is beneficial to insects and the services that bees and their mimics provide. Games, coloring sheets, hands-on activities, and knowledgeable entomologists all await you at The Bees and Their Mimics at the Bohart Museum of Entomology Open House."
So wrote UC Davis doctoral students Lexie Martin and Abigail Lehner, leaders of the Bohart Museum open house set from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 15 in the Bohart Museum, Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. The event is free and famly friendly.
Martin serves as president of the UC Davis Entomology Graduate Student Association (EGSA) and is member of the lab of Rachel Vannette, professor and vice chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology. Lehner is a member of EGSA and of the lab of Professor Neal Williams, pollination ecologist.
Here's what's on tap:
Booths
- How to identify bees and their mimics: Learn what traits entomologists use to tell bees apart from similar looking insects!
- Mimicry: Learn about different types of mimicry performed by bee mimics and that may keep them safe from predators
- "Bees" in media: Use your skills on identifying bees to de-bunk bad ad campaigns and AI art!
- Ecosystem services: Learn what contributions that bees and their mimics have for the ecosystem!
Games
A series of games will be offered to allow you to put your newfound bee identification skills to the test!
- Is it a bee?: Identify which insects are bees and which insects are mimics
- Can it sting?: Identify which insects can sting and which ones are just pretending!
- Guess the bee and mimic: Play a modified version of the classic "Guess who?" game, where all of the cards have been replaced with bees and bee-mimicking insects!
- Bird Brain: Pretend to be a bird in order to learn how mimicry helps to enforce whether or not an insect is dangerous
- Coloring sheets: Coloring sheets and coloring utensils will be provided to help you solidify your ID skills!
Founded in 1946 by UC Davis Professor Richard "Doc" Bohart (1913-2007), the Bohart Museum houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, plus a live petting zoo (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, tarantulas and more) and an insect-themed gift shop, stocked with T-shirts, hoodies, books, posters, jewelry and stuffed animals.
Director of the Bohart is professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schindler Endowed Chair of Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and executive associate dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
UC Davis Distnguished Professor Emerita Lynn Kimsey, a former graduate student of Doc Bohart, directed the Bohart Museum for 34 years before her retirement in 2024. She continues to do research (specialty Hymenoptera) and write and edit the Bohart Museum newsletter.
Cover image: A blue orchard bee, Osmia lignaria. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)