A little yarn, a little glue and a little confetti--and attendees at the recent "Eight-Legged Encounters" open house, co-hosted by the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology and the American Arachnological Society (AAS), learned how spiders have evolved to capture their prey more efficiently.  

"Tens of millions of years before the orb web evolved, spiders used major ampullate silk in various forms (lampshades, tangles, sheets, funnels, etc.)," according to AAS member Eileen Hebets of the University of Nebraska, who co-hosted the open house as part of her National Science Foundation grant, "Eight-Legged Encounters," aimed at providing community outreach programs, especially for youth.  "The first webs were horizontal and were not orbs. Currently, scientists believe that orb web evolved only once." 

The open house kicked off the AAS meeting on the UC Davis campus. Arachnologist Jason Bond, associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is co-chairing the June 26-30 conference.

Entomologist Fran Keller, a Folsom Lake College professor and a UC Davis doctoral alumnus, said she enjoyed staffing Hebets' station on "sticky vs. non-sticky" silk.

"It was about about cribellate and ecribellate silk--or sticky and not-sticky silk,"  said Keller, a Bohart Museum scientist who studied for her doctorate with UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum.  "Some spiders produce silk and place small drops of 'sticky glue' along the silk fibers in a web and that glue traps prey when they hit the web. Other spiders produce 'fuzzy' silk, for lack of a better word, and they spin it very close together. The station was set up to have glue silk and non-glue silk."

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what are a series of photos taken at an open house showcasing spiders and other arachnids worth?

Photos, that is, of children's candid expressions?

Priceless.

Curiosity, delight and awe punctuated the open house, co-hosted by the Bohart Museum of Entomology and the American Arachnological Society (AAS), last Saturday afternoon in the Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.

The event drew Iael Raij-Hoffman, a postdoctoral scholar in the UC Davis Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, and her son, Shaked Hoffman, 5, of Davis.

Marta Erismann, 8, of Sacramento, attended with her father, Fernando Erissmann. "She has her sights set on attending UC Davis when she grows up," the father shared. He said he will be studying biomedical engineering in graduate school this fall at UC Davis.

Alexis Rainwater, 8, of Woodland, attending with her parents, participated in many of the activities, including crafting a spider, and submitting a name for the new species of spider in a contest coordinated by the Jason Bond arachnology lab. 

Twenty-one-month-old Eleanor Bielski was fascinated by a jarred spider specimen that her mother, Laura McKay held up for her to see.

One family came all the way from San Jose to attend the open house. Nine-year-old twin boys, Siddharth and Vedant Revo participated in all the activities. 

The open house, "Eight-Legged Encounters, " was a free, family friendly event and an opportunity to talk to the "powerhouse" of arachnologists enrolled in the American Arachnological Society (AAS) conference at UC Davis. The open house kicked off their June 26-30 meeting.   

Some 20 tables with exhibits and hands-on activities lined the hallway of Academic Surge on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.  The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124,  showcased spiders as well as insects. The museum houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, as well as a live "petting zoo" (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas) and an insect-themed gift shop.

The hallway tables featured spider specimens, live arachnids, and art and science activities, noted AAS conference co-chair and arachnologist Jason Bond, associate dean, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. 

Co-host of the open house was Professor Eileen Hebets of the School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, recipient of a U.S. National Science Foundation grant, “Eight-Legged Encounters,” designed to connect arachnologists with communities, especially youth.

Hebets seeks to educate the public “about the wonders of biology and the possibility of scientific discovery using a charismatic and engaging group of animals--arachnids. Arachnids (spiders and their relatives) are ubiquitous, thriving in most habitable environments on our planet (including underwater),” she says on her website.

On Tuesday, June 28, AAS is sponsoring a series of arachnid lectures, free and open to the public, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in the newly constructed 600-seat lecture hall, California Hall. The event will be casual, with scientists discussing their work, Bond said.

Those who know that spiders have eight legs know exactly what's being showcased at the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology open house, "Eight-Legged Encounters," on Saturday, June 25.

Spiders and other arachnids. 

And you're invited.

"Eight-Legged Encounters" is a free, family friendly event where you can talk to world-renowned arachnologists who are  attending the American Arachnological Society (AAS) conference at UC Davis. The open house kicks off their June 26-30 meeting.   

Some 20 tables with exhibits and hands-on activities will line the hallway of Academic Surge on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.  “There will be everything--spider specimens, live arachnids, activities, artwork, etc., at the open house,"  says AAS conference co-chair and arachnologist Jason Bond, associate dean, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. (Listen to Jason Bond's interview on Capital Public Radio.)

Professor Eileen Hebets of the School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, will set up the displays as part of her U.S. National Science Foundation grant, “Eight-Legged Encounters” that she developed as an outreach project to connect arachnologists with communities, especially youth. 

Also at the open house, students 18 and under are invited to suggest a name for a new species of trapdoor spider in a contest coordinated by the Bond lab.

If you want encounters with butterfly, bee or beetle specimens before your eight-legged encounters, step into the Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building. It houses eight million insect specimens; a live "petting zoo" (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas); and an insect-themed gift shop.  Scientists will be on hand to guide you and answer your questions.

Folks are also looking forward to the AAS series of arachnid lectures, free and open to the public, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 28, in the newly constructed 600-seat lecture hall, California Hall.

But first, there's the Eight-Legged Encounters. Not Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but Close Encounters with the Eight-Legged Kind.

If you're a student 18 or under, here's your chance to name a spider species.

You'll win the distinction of being selected the winner, and you'll be acknowledged in a scientific paper.

What could be better?

One of the activities at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house, "Eight-Legged Encounters," set from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, June 25, will be a "Name-That-Spider-Species" contest, open to students 18 and under. The focus: a male trapdoor spider, a new species from the genus Promyrmekiaphila.

The event will be co-hosted by the Bohart Museum and the American Arachnological Society (AAS).

The open house will kick off the annual meeting of AAS, which meets June 26-30 on the UC Davis campus, said arachnologist Jason Bond, associate dean, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. Professor Bond is chairing the AAS conference with Lisa Chamberland, postdoctoral research associate of the Bond lab, and Joel Ledford, assistant professor of teaching, Department of Plant Biology, College of Biological Sciences.

Chamberland, who holds a doctorate from the University of Vermont where she studied the historical biogeography of net-casting spiders (Deinopis) and spiny-backed orb-weavers (Gasteracantha) in the Caribbean,  is coordinating the spider-species naming project with doctoral student Emma Jochim of the Bond lab and incoming doctoral student Iris Bright, who starts this fall. 

"The species was originally found in the early 2000s, but the first male was collected last October," said Jochim, a second-year doctoral student interested in the evolution and systematics of trapdoor spiders, particularly species that live in California's coastal dunes.

"The genus Promyrmekiaphilais a group of trapdoor spiders that construct silk-lined burrows with wafer-like trapdoor lids, usually decorated with plant material or substrate," Jochim explained. "It's found generally in the Southern Bay Area. As of now there are only two species in the genus, so this new species will be the third!"

At the open house, some 20 exhibits and activities, educational and entertaining, will be set up in the hallway of the Academic Surge Building. “There will be everything--spider specimens, live arachnids, activities, artwork, etc., at the open house,"  said Bond, adding that a powerhouse of the nation's arachnologists will participate.

AAS member  Eileen Hebets, professor at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, is co-hosting the open house as part of a U.S. National Science Foundation grant, “Eight-Legged Encounters” that she developed as an outreach project to connect arachnologists with communities, especially youth. 

Bohart Museum and AAS officials are encouraging the public to attend the open house to learn more about spiders and other arachnids.  The Bohart Museum, directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, houses a worldwide collection of eight million insect specimens; a live "petting zoo" (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas) and an insect-themed gift shop.

In addition to the open house, AAS has scheduled a series of arachnid lectures, free and open to the public, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 28, in the newly constructed 600-seat lecture hall, California Hall. 

Meanwhile, the trio of Chamberland, Jochim and Bright will be creating a poster featuring this male trapdoor spider. Somewhere out there, there's a marvelous name awaiting this species.

By the way, did you know that Professor Bond has named several trapdoor spiders for prominent people? 

• President Barack Obama, Aptostichus barackobamai
  
• Actress Angelina Jolie, Aptostichus angelinajolieae
• Television host Stephen Colbert, Aptostichus stephencolberti 

See this website for more.