Moth Night at the Bohart Museum of Entomology:Kaitai Lu smiling.
A honey bee sting in action.
Bug Squad
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Scientists Meet the Public

Scientists met the public and answered their questions about moths at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's annual open house, held July 18 in the museum's headquarters in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.

Here are a few of the images that helped tell the story.

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UC Davis doctoral student Peter Coggan talking about moth migration.
UC Davis doctoral student Peter Coggan (left) answers a question from Larry Snyder  about moth migration at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house.  (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Turkish doctor Ismail Seker discusses how to rear silk moths.
Turkish doctor Ismail Seker discusses how to rear silk moths. He showed attendees his book about silk moths, filled with his macro photography images. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas answers questions about the moth specimens in the Lepidoptera collection.
Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas answers questions about the moth specimens in the Lepidoptera collection. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Jeff Smith (in maroon shirt) fields questions about moth specimens.
Jeff Smith, curator of the Bohart Museum's Lepidoptera collection (he's third from left in the maroon shirt) fields questions about moth specimens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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UC Davis scientist (and alumnus) Dylan Vega points to one of the moth specimens. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis scientist (and alumnus) Dylan Vega points to one of the moth specimens as he answers questions. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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Doctoral student Kaitai Liu of the Jason Bond lab shares moth information with the crowd. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Doctoral student Kaitai Liu of the Jason Bond lab smiles as he listens to an attendee relate a story. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey; also the cover image)

The Bohart Museum annually marks National Moth Week, which this year is July 18-26. A highlight of this year's event was a backlighting display by Joel Hernandez in the Shields Oak Grove, UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. (See July 21st Bug Squad blog)

The Bohart Museum is the home of a world-class collection of eight million insect specimens; a live petting zoo (including Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas) and an insect-themed gift shop, stocked with T-shirts, hoodies, books, posters, jewelry, stuffed toy animals, and insect-collecting equipment. Noted entomologist Richard Bohart, a UC Davis entomology professor, founded the insect museum in 1946.

Director of the Bohart Museum is Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair of Systematics. He is the executive associate dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and president of the American Arachnological Society. 

For more information on the Bohart Museum, access the website or contact bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.