It's a beautiful morning and life is good. 

A male leafcutter bee (genus Megachile) drops down on a spent flower in a Vacaville pollinator garden. 

He's warming his flight muscles, ready to greet the day--and maybe a female of his species. 

Mr. Leafcutter Bee  does not see the long-legged, long-beaked predator stalking him. The predator, a ringed assassin bug, Pselliopus cinctus, is hungry. 

A bee breakfast would be good. Mr. Assassin Bug's menu over the last week probably included aphids, a leafhopper, a a lacewing and maybe a lygus bug or caterpillar. And now, maybe, a bee? He's focused on ambushing and stabbing the unsuspecting bee, injecting his venom and sucking out the body contents. That's what assassin bugs do, and he's an assassin bug.  He's one of some 7000 species of assassin bugs found throughout the world.

Assassin bugs (Reduviidae) “are one of the largest and morphologically most diverse groups of Heteroptera, or true bugs,” according to a UC Riverside site, Heteropteran Systematics Lab. 

The predator-prey drama lasts for about a minute. Abruptly, the bee spots danger and buzzes off.

It was a good morning for the leafcutter bee and a bad morning for the assassin bug. But the day isn't over… 

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.

Moths will grab the spotlight at the Bohart Museum of Entomology's open house on Saturday, July 22 but besides Lepidopterists (those who study butterflies and moths), attendees can meet and greet dipterists (those who study flies), learn about mosquitoes from the author of a newly published children's book, and see scores of insect specimens. 

The open house, free and family friendly, takes place from 7 to 11 p.m. in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane.  This week is National Moth Week.

Some of the world's renowned fly authorities will attend the open house.  They are participating in the 10th International Dipterology Congress, being held July 16-21 in Reno.

Entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidopteran collection at the Bohart, and Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas, will show moth specimens and answer questions.

Science educator and entomologist Nazzy Pakpour of Woodland, who received her bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Davis and her doctorate in microbiology, virology, and parasitology from the University of Pennsylvania, will be at the event to read her children's book, "Please Don't Bite Me! Insects That Buzz, Bite and Sting,"  and will sign copies. She writes: "Mosquitoes, wasps, flies and fleas… Buzzing, biting, and causing irritating lumps on your skin. But what if there is more to these irritating insects than meets the eye This question and more are answered in this book that explores the lives of some of the most irritating buzzing, biting and stinging insects."

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 her biography on One Aggie Network)

Bug Squad included a photo of Pakpour, then a UC Davis postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Shirley Luckhart, in a Jan. 7, 2011 post headlined "Malaria-Proof Mosquito Takes the Spotlight." Pakpour was one of a collaborative team who worked on a malaria-proof mosquito that made Time Magazine's "50 Best Inventions of 2010." It was listed as No. 1 in Time Magazine's Health and Medicine category. Today Pakpour works in the field of sustainable biotech solutions.

Also at the open house, plans call for setting up a blacklighting display so that visitors can see moths and other night-flying insects.

The event will be dedicated to the late Jerry Powell of UC Berkeley, an international authority on moths and the former director of the Essig Museum of Entomology. He died July 8 at age 90.

Free hot chocolate and cookies will be served, announced Yang said.

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

What are the main differences between moths and butterflies?

That's a question frequently asked at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, especially during National Moth Week, which this year takes place July 22-30.

So when the Bohart Museum hosts an open house, "Night at the Museum" (formerly known as "Moth Night") on Saturday night, July 22, that question--and many more--will surface. The open house, free and family friendly, is set from 7 to 11 p.m. The site: Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.

Of the Bohart Museum's global collection of eight million specimens, about 500,000 are butterflies and moths, says entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the Lepidoptera collection. Of the 500,000, some 60 percent of are moths, and 40 percent butterflies.

Worldwide, scientists have described an estimated 18,000 species of butterflies, but more than 180,000 species of moths, "so moths greatly outnumber butterflies, and their sizes range from nearly microscopic to the largest insects in the world, the Atlas Moths," Smith says.

Serious Pests. "In terms of their impact on humans, moths by far are the more important group," Smith wrote in an email. "A great many species are serious pests on agricultural crops (e.g. corn earworms, cutworms), on landscape and forest trees (e.g. gypsy moths and tent caterpillars), and on stored food products (e.g. Indian meal moths). On the opposite of this spectrum there are some species (e.g. the cinnabar moth) that are useful in controlling certain kinds of noxious weeds." (The common name of the gypsy moth, Lymantria disparm, is now "spongy moth," according to the Entomological Society of America.)

"In North America the vast majority of moths are active at night (nocturnal) while all butterflies are day active (diurnal). In tropical regions a much greater percentage of moths, especially colorful species, may be diurnal and often are mimics of butterflies in those areas, a look that may afford the moth protection in some manner," Smith says. "Many more kinds of moths than butterflies exhibit wonderful defenses, such as mimicking the bark of trees, the look of leaves, or displaying large eyespots to make predators nervous. Many moths also are capable of 'hearing' bats, their primary nighttime enemy, as the bats use echolocation to find their flying food, and the moths then take evasive action."

Stinging Hairs. Smith points out "it also pays to be aware of certain kinds of caterpillars that have stinging hairs on them, some with stings that are extremely painful when brushed against. A number of moth species are incapable of feeding as the adult moth, while others have a proboscis (a 'tongue') nearly 12 inches long and are important pollinators of some kinds of flowers. It is likely that we are aware, at this time, of only about 80 percent of the species of moths actually out there, so there is a great deal still to learn about them and their importance in their habitats."

At the open houses, Smith shows visitors the collection and talks about the defensive strategies these insects use for survival, such as camouflage, warning coloration, and mimicry of other species. "We love to teach about the importance of Lepidoptera in the environment, either to their habitat directly or possibly as an indicator of the health of their habitat. And, of course, they can be amazed at the beauty of these insects."

"We have specimens from all over the world, from every continent," Smith notes. "We are especially strong, of course, in North American material but also strong in Central and South America, and these areas represent much of our continuing growth. We have a great deal of material from Papua New Guinea, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and other eastern Asian countries. We have a great amount of material from Africa, particularly Zambia and Democratic Republic of the Congo. We are especially strong with northern Mexico moths, much of which likely represents species still undescribed by taxonomists."

The biggest "Wow" in the Lepidoptera collection usually comes when visitors see the huge and brilliant metallic blue Morpho butterflies from tropical America. (See his video, "Mimicry in the Butterflies and Moths with Jeff Smith," on You Tube.)

Smith, a resident of Rocklin, received a 2015 “Friend of the College” award from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences for his volunteer work, including preparing specimens and organizing the collection. At the time he had spread the wings of more than 200,000 butterflies and moths, amounting to 33,000 hours of volunteer service. 

Dedicated to Jerry Powell. The July 22 open house will be dedicated to the late UC Berkeley professor Jerry Powell (1933-2023), an international authority on moths and a longtime director of the Essig Museum of Entomology. He died July 8 in Berkeley at age 90. One of his graduate students is John DeBenedictus, a Bohart research associate known as "The Moth Man." De Benedictus traditionally sets up the blacklighting display at the annual July open house so visitors can see moths and other night-flying insects land on a white sheet, illuminated by ultraviolet light.

"Also participating will be four or five dipterists from around the world," said Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum's education and outreach coordinator. "They are attending the 10th International Dipterology Congress in Reno."

Science educator and entomologist Nazzy Pakpour, a UC Davis alumna who did research on mosquitoes (mozzies), will be at the event reading from her new book and signing copies of Please Don't Bite Me! Insects That Buzz, Bite and Sting.  It is illustrated by Owen Davy. "All proceeds of book sales will go to the Bohart Museum, thanks to Nazzy's generosity," Yang said.

Pakpour, a Woodland resident who works in the field of field of sustainable biotech solutions, received her bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Davis and her doctorate in microbiology, virology, and parasitology from the University of Pennsylvania. As a UC Davis postdoctoral scholar in the lab of Shirley Luckhart, she was one of a collaborative team who worked on a malaria-proof mosquito that made Time Magazine's "50 Best Inventions of 2010." It was listed as No. 1 in Time Magazine's Health and Medicine category.  

The insect petting zoo (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas) and arts and crafts activities will be in the hallway, said Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum's education and outreach coordinator.  Free hot chocolate and cookies will be served. 

The Bohart Museum, directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, is the home of the seventh largest insect collection in North America, and the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity. Noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007) of UC Davis founded the museum in 1946.