It was a "Magical Mantis Kind of Day" when the Bohart Museum of Entomology hosted an open house last Sunday afternoon, Aug. 27, on praying mantises.

• Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum's education and outreach coordinator, wore a green mantis costume to greet guests and show them the Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects in the live petting zoo
• Guest Kevin Murakoshi of Davis  (UC Davis alumnus) gifted the museum with intricate origami mantises that he crafted from "mantis green" paper--one sheet per mantis.
• Guest Ian Alexander Levin of Sacramento displayed his enlarged images of mantises, including one of a mantis eating a bee that drew "oohs" and "aahs."
• Skylar Primavera, who studied praying mantises while attending UC San Barbara (bachelor's degree in biology, 2020) displayed a live mantis as well as life-cycle models (ootheca to the adult), and answered questions about the predatory insect.
• Sol Wantz, UC Davis entomology senior and president of the UC Davis Entomology Club, displayed a European mantis that she borrowed from a UC Davis garden

Guests viewed display drawers of both native and non-native mantises. At least 9 species of mantises in California, according to one display.

Five are native:

• The Arizona or bordered mantid (Stagmomantis limbata)
• Bistanta mexicana
• California mantid (Stagmomantis wheeleri=S. californica)
• Litaneutria ocularis=Litaneutria obscura
• Small gray mantid (Litaneutria pacfica)

Four are introduced:

• Chinese mantid (Tenodera sinensis)
• European mantid (Mantis religiosa)
• Mediterranean mantid (Iris oratoria)
• South African mantid (Miomantis caffra)

Meanwhile, Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum, and Brennen Dyer, collections manager, fielded questions from the crowd. The Lepidoptera crew of Jeff Smith (curator of the Lepidoptera collection), Greg Kareofelas and Brittany Kohler showed guests assorted butterfly specimens collected world-wide.  Bohart intern Melody Ruiz, a third-year entomology major at UC Davis, staffed the family arts-and-crafts activity on mantises.  

The next two fall open houses, free and family friendly, are from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23 and on Saturday, Nov. 4. The September open house is themed "Household Vampires." Think fleas, ticks and bedbugs! The November open house is on monarchs. Think iconic monarchs, milkweed and research.

The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, plus a live petting zoo and an insect-themed gift shop. The insect museum was founded in 1946 by Professor Richard Bohart of the UC Davis Department of Entomology (now the Department of Entomology and Nematology).

(Editor's Note: Tomorrow's Bug Squad blog will feature the creative kids and the creative staffer at the family arts-and-crafts activity.)

What will you see at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house from 7 to 11 p.m., Saturday, July 22?

The event, "A Night at the Museum," is free and family friendly. It takes place in several places: (1) inside the insect museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus; (2) in the hallway of the Academic Surge Building; (3) directly outside the building for the blacklighting display; and (4) in the nearby Wildlife Classroom (Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology) for a insect drawing demonstration.

The focus is on moths as this is National Moth Week. Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidopterist collection, will be in "the moth aisle" with Bohart associate and naturalist Greg Kareofelas to show specimens and answer questions.

At the Bohart table, inside the museum, fly experts from around the world--including dipterists at the California Department of Food and Agriculture--will answer your questions and show specimens. They were in Reno to participate in the 10th International Dipterology Congress, held July 16-21.

The hallway will be a plethora of exhibits and activities.

• There will be a memorial to the late international moth authority, Jerry Powell, former director of the Essig Museum of Entomology, UC Berkeley, who died July 8 at age 90. "Jerry's rearing program was the most extensive in the history of the study of New World Microlepidoptera," according to an Essig post. "For over 50 years he and his students processed more than 15,000 collections of larval or live adult Lepidoptera. Resulting data encompass more than 1,000 species of moths, through rearing either field-collected larvae or those emerging from eggs deposited by females in confinement. This total includes more than 60% of an estimated 1,500 species of Microlepidoptera occurring in California."
  
  
• Visitors can hold the tenants of the live insect petting zoo, including Madagascar hissing cockroaches and walking sticks and take selfies.
  
  
• Science educator and entomologist Nazzy Pakpour
  

  Nazzy Pakpour
  , who holds a bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Davis, and a doctorate in microbiology, virology, and parasitology from the University of Pennsylvania and did postdoctoral research at UC Davis, will be showcasing her new children's book, "Please Don't Bite Me! Insects That Buzz, Bite and Sting. The book is illustrated by Owen Davy. "All proceeds of book sales will go to the Bohart Museum, thanks to Nazzy's generosity," said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator. (See Pakpour's biography on One Aggie Network). Pakpour was a member of a collaborative team who worked on a malaria-proof mosquito that made Time Magazine's "50 Best Inventions of 2010." See Bug Squad post: "Malaria-Proof Mosquito Takes the Spotlight."
  
  
• Microscopes also will be set up in the hallway for visitors to view insect specimens.

Wildlife Classroom: Multiple insect drawing demonstrations, "How to Draw Bugs," will be given Professor Miguel Angel Miranda of the University of the Balearic Islands (UBI), Spain, who just returned from the International Dipterology Congress. He is a zoologist, entomologist and noted insect illustrator.

Outdoors, near the Bohart Museum entrance, will be a blacklighting display (white sheet illuminated by a ultraviolet light to attract moths and other night-flying insects.)  At the 2019 Moth Night, "Moth Man" John de Benedictus recorded the following insects from these families:

Family Tineidae:
Opogona omoscopa (Opogona crown borer)

Family Tortricidae: 
Clepsis peritana
Platynota stultana (omnivorous leafroller)
Cydia latiferreana (filbertworm)

Family Pyralidae: 
Achyra rantalis (garden webworm)
Ephestiodes gilvescentella (dusky raisin moth)
Cadra figuliella

Family Geometridae: 
Digrammia muscariata 

Family Noctuidae: 
Spodoptera exigua (beet armyworm)
Spodoptera praefica (western yellow-striped armyworm)
Parabagrotis formais

Also outdoors, sidewalk chalking will take place. Free hot chocolate and cookies will be served.

The museum, directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, houses a global collection of eight million insects; an insect petting zoo; and a year-around insect-themed gift shop.

It's so quiet at times that you can almost hear a bee buzz or a walking stick walk or a Madagascar hissing cockroach hiss. 

The audience, ranging from toddlers to teens to senior citizens, are inside the the Vacaville Public Library. Some sit on the carpet and others occupy the chairs circling the room.

Some are insect enthusiasts. Some are not. All come to listen to what Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, has to say about the critters that outnumber us on our planet.

Yang displays insect specimens and poses questions as the enthusiasm builds. 

One youngster, about 5, announces he has insects in his bathroom. “I don't know what they are but I think we're infested,” he declares. 

Other youngsters mention that they like ladybugs (lady beetles) butterflies, and dragonflies. 

The excitement continues to build, especially when Yang announces they can hold the stick insects (“walking sticks”) and Madagascar hissing cockroaches ("hissers") from the Bohart's petting zoo. “You can hold them and show them to your neighbor,” she says. “But don't force the insects on them. Make sure it's okay with them. Always ask first.” 

Gleeful shouts erupt as the insects pass from one to another.  A three-year-old girl named Esme handles two at a time. “She loves insects,” her parents said, adding that she looks for bugs in her back yard. The family rears caterpillars purchased from the Internet. 

The stick insects that resemble green beans prove especially popular. “They are Great Thin Stick Insects (Ramulus nenatodes),” Yang said. 

Following the program, Grace, 13, sprawls on the carpet, a Great Thin Stick Insect on her face. Eli, 5, joins her with the same species. It's pure delight. Future entomologists? Maybe.

“The Bohart is essentially a library of insects and so setting up a mini-Bohart at a library actually makes sense,” Yang commented. “These library events are special because they are all about the community. My favorite part is after I have explained the pinned specimens and shown people how to play with the live insects, the families, community members, librarians and I spend the rest of the time casually passing around the insects and swapping stories. I love seeing a diversity of people who don't know each other sharing and having a wonderful time together. We all learn from each other because everyone has some experience with insects. “ 

The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus, houses a global collection of eight million specimens, as well a live petting zoo and an insect-themed gift shop. During the summer, public hours are Tuesdays from 2 to 5 p.m. Admission is free. 

"The rest of the week (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday), the Bohart is dedicated to university business, visiting researchers, pre-arranged programs and work that takes us away from the museum,” Yang said. 

The  Bohart Museum, directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, hosts open houses on specific weekends throughout the academic year. The last open house of the academic year is “A Night at the Museum,” (traditionally known as "Moth Night). It will take place from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday, July 22 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane,  UC Davis campus, and also outdoors. Scientists plan to set up an ultraviolet (UV) or blacklighting display to collect moths and other night-flying insects. A special treat: hot chocolate and cookies will be served. Admission and parking are free.

"A Night at the Museum" will be dedicated to the late Jerry Powell, an international authority on moths, who died July 8 at his home in Berkeley at age 90. A longtime director of the Essig Museum of Entomology, UC Berkeley, he collaborated with the Bohart Museum for decades. (See news story)

Ever created Maggot Art?

You pick up a maggot with a forceps, dip it into a non-toxic, water-based paint, drop it (gently) on a white paper, and let it crawl around, or guide it. Voila! Maggot Art!

It's a conversation piece. It's suitable for framing. And, it could make a good gift card--or at least a temporary spot on your refrigerator door.

The Bohart Museum of Entomology's recent open house featured Maggot Art as the family arts-and-crafts activity.  The open house, themed  "Forensics and Insects," spotlighted UC Davis forensic entomologist Robert "Bob" Kimsey of the Department of Entomology and Nematology. (See Bug Squad blog)

Maggot Art began on the UC Davis campus, at Briggs Hall, in the early 2000s as part of the annual UC Davis Picnic Day celebration. The Entomology Graduate Student Association and the Department of Entomology and Nematology coordinate the entomological activities.

Rebecca O'Flaherty, a former graduate student of UC Davis forensic entomologist Kimsey's, coined the educational teaching curriculum,  "Maggot Art," back in 2001 when she was studying at the University of Hawaii. She was rearing blowflies for her forensic research and wanted an activity to draw the interest of elementary school students.  She also wanted to generate interest and respect for forensic entomology. 

Her Maggot Art quickly drew national interest. The CSI television show featured one of her works, “Ancient Offering,”  which hung on the permanent set in Gil Grissom's office. O'Flaherty also exhibited her work at art shows, including a two-month exhibition at the Capital Athletic Club, Sacramento, in 2007. 

In Maggot Art, who is the artist? Do the maggots, Calliphora vacinia, own the copyright, or do the two-legged participants? 

Maybe both? The artist picks the colors and guides the maggots.

Want to do Maggot Art? Mark your calendar for the next UC Davis Picnic Day. It's Saturday, April 20. Entomological activities are in Briggs Hall and the Bohart Museum; Maggot Art is only at Briggs. If you access the Picnic Day website, you'll learn the days, hours,  minutes and seconds remaining until the much-anticipated event.

The next open house at the Bohart Museum is "Night at the Museum" (Moth Night) from 7 to 11 p.m. on Saturday, July 22. All open houses are free and family friendly, and parking, too, is free.

The Bohart Museum, directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens. It also maintains a live "petting zoo" (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, tarantulas and more) and an insect-themed gift shop, stocked with t-shirts, hoodies, jewelry, posters, books, pens and collecting equipment.

The Bohart Museum is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. The insect museum is open to the public (walk-ins) only on Tuesdays from 2 to 5 p.m., this summer, now effective. This is due to the high number of outreach programs, summer camps, scheduled tours and unavailability of staff. More information is available on the website or by emailing bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.