- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Bohart Museum of Entomology's last open house of the 2013-14 academic year will explore the theme, "Arachnids: Awesome or Awful?" on Saturday, July 26 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Bohart Museum is located in Room 1124 of Academic Surge on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.
Many locally found spiders, include the black widow, jumping spider and cellar spiders--alive and specimens--will be exhibited.
A special attraction is Rosie, a 24-year-old tarantula reared by entomologist/Bohart volunteer Jeff Smith of Sacramento. Visitors are invited to hold it and photograph it.
Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis, will be present to talk about insects. He is the co-author of Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide, which is available in the Bohart gift shop. Thorp will be available to sign the books.
Children and/or family activities are also planned, said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator at the Bohart.
The museum's gift shop, open throughout the year (credit-card purchases are accepted), includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.
The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, houses the seventh largest insect collection in North America. It is also the home of the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity. Noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007) founded the museum.
Bohart officials schedule weekend open houses throughout the academic year. The museum's regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. The insect museum is closed to the public on Fridays and on major holidays. Admission is free.
More information is available from Tabatha Yang at tabyang@ucdavis.edu or by telephoning (530) 752-0493.