- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's October and Arachtober: the month to celebrate spiders and other arachnids.
As arachnologists will tell you, arachnids are arthropods that include spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegaroons.
Arachnids need love, too, especially in October when spiders compete with ghosts, goblins and ghouls for your attention.
Meanwhile, scientists and arachnid fans are posting their favorite eight-legged images on their websites and social media.
Even Flickr celebrates Arachtober via a photography pool formed in September 2008. "The pool is open! Thanks everyone for participating, spreading the spider love, and making this fun!...This group is similar to a 365 group, the goal is to post spiders to Flickr daily during October. When you shot them is less important...Post what you have. You can either post them daily till you run out, spread them out every few days, or save them till Halloween week for Spider Blitz. Spiders are especially popular around then."
His five good reasons to love spiders?
- Spiders consume 400-800 million tons of prey, mostly insects, each year. Humans consume somewhere around 400 million tons of meat and fish each year.
- Spider silk is one of the strongest naturally occurring materials. Spider silk is stronger than steel, stronger and more stretchy than Kevlar; a pencil thick strand of spider silk could be used to stop a Boeing 747 in flight.
- Some spiders are incredibly fast – able to run up to 70 body lengths per second (10X faster than Usain Bolt).
- Although nearly all 47,000-plus spider species have venom used to kill their insect prey, very few actually have venom that is harmful to humans.
- Some spiders are really good parents –wolf spider moms carry their young on their backs until they are ready to strike out on their own; female trapdoor spiders keep their broods safe inside their burrows often longer than one year, and some female jumping spiders even nurse their spiderlings with a protein rich substance comparable to milk.
Happy Arachtober! Here are three jumping spiders that you can love, or try to love....Then on March 14 you celebrate Save a Spider Day.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
So quipped UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey about the portraits and multiple images of Richard "Doc" Bohart (1913-2007) gracing the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house on Saturday, Sept. 28, on what would have been his 111th birthday anniversary.
Bohart, an internationally recognized entomologist and a longtime UC Davis professor, founded the insect museum in 1946. It was renamed the Bohart Museum in 1983.
The 300 visitors at the open house visitors learned how to catch bugs, identify them, pin them and label them. They also learned about butterflies, moths, mosquitoes and ticks. As the open house concluded, they enjoyed a "Doc" birthday cake cut by the new Bohart Museum director, Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Kimsey served as the director of the Bohart for 34 years until her retirement on Feb. 1, 2024. Specializing in hymenoptera, she continues her research; directs the Bohart Museum Society; and writes and edits the quarterly newsletter.
Kimsey, who was one of Bohart's last graduate students before he retired, remembers him in the audio of a newly produced video by Walter Leal, UC Davis distinguished professor of molecular and cellular biology and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology. Included are her archived PowerPoint images of the professor, and video excerpts from her 1996 interview of "Doc" Bohart in an Aggie Video production. (See https://youtu.be/3YqnK-CpbJE)
The video heralds Bohart's 60 years of entomological work, documents his childhood passion for insects, relates that his first publication (1936) featured Strepsiptera (twisted-wing parasites), and lists many of the species that bear his name. He authored two landmark books, Sphecid Wasps of the World (with Arnold Menke), and The Chrysidid Wasps of the World (with Lynn Kimsey), as well as 230 journal articles and four other books on wasps and mosquitoes, including the 2nd and 3rd editions of The Mosquitoes of California (the 2nd with Stanley Freeborn and the 3rd with Robert Washino). During his career, he described more than 200 new species and genera of insects.
The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus, is the home of a global collection of eight million insect specimens. It also houses 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 and jewelry, among other items.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The open house, free and family friendly, takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane. Parking is also free.
"The theme is Museum Fundamentals 101," said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator. Activities will center around:
- Catching bugs (nets, malaise, light and pitfall)
- How to make a kill jar
- Pinning
- Microscope work
- Labeling
- Identification of some of the major orders
- Celebration of noted UC Davis entomology professor Richard M. Bohart (2013-2007), founder of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, whose birthday anniversary was Sept. 28, the date of the open house. Speaking will be UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, who directed the Bohart Museum for 34 years until she retired Feb. 1, 2024; and the new Bohart director, Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidoptera collection, will show pinning boards at various stages of completeness and "we will have a QR code linked to the video of him showing how to spread leps that we created over the pandemic," said Yang. "We will also highlight and link to his 'carpentry how-to for drawers' and spreading boards that (collections manager) Brennen Dyer has on his website, resourcefulentomology.com.
Carla-Cristina “CC” Melo Edwards of the laboratory of medical entomologist-geneticist Geoffrey Attardo of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will be discussing mosquitoes and ticks--and how she traps them. Her doctoral research focuses on investigating the physiological mechanisms underlying pyrethroid resistance in Aedes aegypti (the yellow fever mosquito). She was a McNair scholar at Baylor University, where she completed her undergraduate degree in cell and molecular biology in May 2021.
A family arts and crafts activity--making a collecting jar--is also planned.
The event will take place both inside the Bohart Museum and in the hallway.
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inside
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Moth Collection (Jeff Smith and Greg Kareofelas)
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Collecting Equipment (Fran Keller)
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Pinning and Labeling (Oliver Smith and Allen Chew)
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Labeling, Identifying (Lynn Kimsey and Steve Heydon)
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Hallway
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Live Animals (handling and rearing) - (Oliver Blunt, Jason Ni and Nancy Lauerman)
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Educational microscopes (Sam Amelia McCullough)
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Netting (Christofer Brothers)
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Finding/Tracking Mosquitoes and Ticks- Medical Entomology (CC Edwards)
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Craft: Make a collecting jar (while supplies last) (Julianna Campos)
- Free public snack - Birthday cake in honor of Richard Bohart
The Bohart Museum is the home of a global collection of eight million insect specimens. It also houses 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 and jewelry, among other items.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's not as easy as it looks, but entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Bohart Museum of Entomology's Lepidoptera collection, makes it look easy.
If you attend the Bohart Museum open house, set from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus, you'll learn how he does it.
Indeed, it is no easy feat to pin a butterfly or moth. Just ask research entomologist Tom Zavorink, a Bohart Museum associate.
"Personally, I am astounded by the thousands upon thousands of butterflies and moths that Jeff has prepared for display or scientific study," Zavorink told us back in 2015, when the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences selected Smith for its Friend of the College Award.
"This is no small task," Zavortink said, "because butterfly and moth specimens are usually brought from the field in envelopes or boxes with their wings folded over their backs or around their bodies, and preparing them for display or scientific study involves relaxing them in a humid chamber so their wings and legs can be manipulated, carefully spreading open the wings, positioning them on a flat surface, and securing them in that position until the specimen dries again. This is an onerous task that many entomologists, myself included, shun because we don't have the time, manual dexterity, or patience it takes to prepare quality specimens."
A Bohart volunteer since 1998, Smith has spread the wings of some 180,000 moths and butterflies, typically 6,000 or more each year for the past 30-plus years. He has crafted and donated some 2,475 wooden specimen drawers, including 110 so far this year. He also has donated some 100,000 specimens (primarily butterflies, moths but a few other insects, including beetles) to the Bohart Museum.
The Lepidoptera collection now totals about 750,000 specimens. Lately Smith has been redoing the header labels in the unit trays for much of the Lepidoptera collection, "making the new ones in the better format where the geographic ranges of the various species and subspecies are on the label. This is so helpful when it comes to placing new material into the collection."
When Smith received the Friend of the College award, Bohart director Lynn Kimsey, now UC Davis distinguished professor emerita, said: “You could not ask for a better friend than Jeff Smith. He has brought us international acclaim and saved us $160,000 through donations of specimens and materials, identification skills and his professional woodworking skills. This does not include the thousands of hours he has donated in outreach programs that draw attention to the museum, the college and the university.”
“When Jeff was working for Univar Environmental Services, a 35-year career until his retirement in 2013, he would spend some of his vacation days at the museum. Over the years Jeff took over more and more of the curation of the butterfly and moth collection. He took home literally thousands of field pinned specimens and spread their wings at home, bringing them back to the museum perfectly mounted."
Smith engages in public outreach at the Bohart Museum's open houses, which include open houses with various themes, plus UC Davis Picnic Day, UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, and Take-Your-Daughters-and-Sons-to-Work Day. In addition, Smith annually presents an evening spreading class to the UC Davis Entomology Club as well as an annual presentation to Bio Boot Camp. He also speaks at 12 to 15 other venues per year, engaging students at School Science Days and in individual classrooms.
"We will have an overview of terrestrial arthropods which encompasses everything from insects, arachnids, millipedes, isopods and centipedes," said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordination. "We will also showcase some of the trapping/catching methods we use, for example, nets, lights, pitfall traps and malaise traps."
"We also get asked a lot of questions about our own collection and why the specimens don't decay," she added. "We will highlight the different curation techniques from pinning, point mounting, preserving in alcohol and mounting on slides."
Also planned is a tribute to the late UC Davis professor Richard "Doc" Bohart (1913-2007), who founded the insect museum in 1946, served as the first director, and compiled 32 years on the UC Davis entomology faculty, Sept. 28 is his birthday anniversary and a cake to celebrate what would have been his 111th birthday will be served.
Kimsey, his last graduate student, remembers him in the audio of a newly produced video by Walter Leal, UC Davis distinguished professor of molecular and cellular biology and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology. Kimsey provides the narrative and images. Leal added excerpts from a 1996 Aggie Video production when Kimsey interviewed Bohart. (See https://youtu.be/3YqnK-CpbJE)
Luz Maria Robles, public information for the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control, says the risk of contracting West Nile virus in Sacramento and Yolo counties continues. (See map of latest West Nile virus activity in the two counties.) This year, to date, the statistics show:
Sacramento County: 53 dead birds and 46 mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile virus
Yolo County: 1 dead bird and 42 mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile virus
The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens. It also is the home of a petting zoo (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, tarantulas and more) and an insect-themed gift shop, stocked with t-shirts,hoodies, books, posters,jewelry, stuffed animals, and insect collecting equipment.Museum director is professor and arachnologist Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
For more information, contact bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's the birthday anniversary of noted entomologist Richard "Doc" Bohart (1913-2007), founder of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis.
So when the Bohart Museum hosts a public open house (theme:"Museum ABCs: Arthropods, Bohart and Collecting") from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28, plans also call for a tribute to him and his work.
"Doc" Bohart founded the insect museum in 1946 and served as its first director; compiled 32 years on the entomology faculty; and became an internationally recognized entomologist and author.
Born Sept. 28, 2013 in Palo Alto, Richard began collecting butterflies at age 7. "He and his brother George 'Ned' Bohart collected butterflies for a local collector to earn pocket money," according to UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, who directed the Bohart Museum for 34 years until her retirement on Feb. 1, 2024.
Bohart attended UC Berkeley, receiving three degrees in entomology culminating in his doctorate in 1938. He joined the UC Davis faculty in 1946 and chaired the Department of Entomology from 1956 to 1965. He taught general entomology, medical entomology, systematics, and agricultural entomology.
According to the Academic Senate's memorial, Bohart "contributed substantially to the world literature of the insect Order Hymenoptera, which included two landmark books, Sphecid Wasps of the World (with A. S. Menke), and The Chrysidid Wasps of the World (with L.S. Kimsey), as well as 230 journal articles and four other books on wasps and mosquitoes, including the second and third editions of The Mosquitoes of California (the second with Stanley B. Freeborn and the third with Robert K. Washino). During his career, he described more than 200 new species and genera of insects."
Today the Bohart Museum is the home of a global collection of eight million insects; a live petting zoo (including Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas); and an insect-themed gift shop, stocked with T-shirts, hoodies, jewelry, books, posters, and collecting equipment. The new director, only the third since 1946, is Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
"His teaching and collecting activities resulted in the development of one of the finest collections of stinging wasps in the world in the Bohart Museum of Entomology," Kimsey said. "A great deal of this material was obtained through his collecting and that of his students. During his tenure, the museum collection grew from 500 specimens to 7 million, a span of some 60 years. Chancellor James Meyer dedicated the entomology museum in his name in 1983. The R. M. Bohart Museum moved into a new building in 1994 and was dedicated by Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef."
Open House. The open house, free and family friendly, will include "an overview of terrestrial arthropods which encompasses everything from insects, arachnids, millipedes, isopods and centipedes," said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordination. "We will also showcase some of the trapping/catching methods we use, for example, nets, lights, pitfall traps and malaise traps."
Pinning, spreading and curation demonstrations are planned "so people know how to take care of and preserve a dead arthropod for research or for a personal collection," Yang said. "People sometimes find a dead dragonfly or a butterfly on the ground and we often get asked how they can preserve it."
"We also get asked a lot of questions about our own collection and why the specimens don't decay," she added. "We will highlight the different curation techniques from pinning, point mounting, preserving in alcohol and mounting on slides."
Entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection, which encompasses some 750,000 specimens, will demonstrate and discuss the various steps of relaxing, pinning, spreading, and labeling moths and butterflies.
A Bohart volunteer since 1998, Smith has spread the wings of some 180,000 moths and butterflies, typically 6,000 or more each year for the past 30-plus years. He has crafted and donated some 2,475 wooden specimen drawers, including 110 so far this year. He also has donated some 100,000 specimens (primarily butterflies, moths but a few other insects, including beetles) to the Bohart Museum.