What's a picnic without bugs?

UC Davis entomologists--students, faculty, staff and emeriti--will set up educational and entertaining displays at the 109th annual UC Davis Picnic Day, set Saturday, April 15.  The "bug" exhibits will be at two sites:

• Briggs Hall, home of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, Kleiber Hall Drive, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and
• Bohart Museum of Entomology, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Theme of the Bohart Museum will be "Bugs, Boom, Bang!" The insect museum houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, a live "petting zoo" (including Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas) and an insect-themed gift shop.

Forensic entomologist Bob Kimsey, and doctoral student Grace Horne of the lab of urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke are coordinating the department's Picnic Day activities. Bohart Museum Picnic Day coordinators are UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart, and Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator.

Cockroach races are among the popular activities at Briggs Hall. The roaches will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on a specially made race track in front of the building. These are American cockroaches, Periplaneta americana, from a colony kept by the late UC Davis entomology emeritus professor, Charles Judson (1926-2015). Bob Kimsey, who doubles as the advisor of the UC Davis Entomology Club, maintains the roach colony and is assuring everyone that the athletes"are ready to race." 

The roach races involve a roach track, an air pump (to get the roaches moving), volunteers, and spectators. Sometimes a roach jumps from the track and lands on scurrying feet.  

The line-up of entomological events at Briggs Hall also includes:

Bug Doctor
Briggs Hall Entryway
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Meet an entomologist and talk about insects! Bring an insect from your garden to identify.  

Maggot Art
Briggs Hall Courtyard
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Create maggot art by dipping a live maggot into water-based, non-toxic paint. Voila! Art suitable or framing (or at least a spot on the refrigerator door

Dr. Death
Room 122 of Briggs Hall
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey will display and discuss his research

Entomology at UC Davis
Room 122 of Briggs Hall
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Displays of insects, including bees, ants and more
Graduate students, faculty and emeriti will staff the tables

Scavenger Hunt
Room 122 of Briggs Hall
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
There will be several drawers of insects that people can look through to see if they can spot the insects on the check list

Fly-Tying
Briggs Hall courtyard
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fly Fishers of Davis will show you how to tie a fly.

Insect-Themed T-shirt Sales
Briggs hall entryway
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Members of the Entomology Graduate Student Association (EGSA) will be selling popular insect-themed t-shirts, including "The Beetles" 

Mosquito Control
Briggs Hall entrance
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District will be providing information on mosquitoes and how to protect yourself

Other Creepy Crawlies
122 Briggs Hall
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
UC Davis doctoral candidate Emma Jochim of the Jason Bond lab and others will display live arachnids, myriapods, tarantulas, scorpions, millipedes and more 

UC  Statewide Integrated Pest Management (UC IPM) 
Briggs Hall Courtyard
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Learn about pests and how to control them from UC IPM scientists. The staff will be giving away lady beetles, aka ladybugs.

The UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, headed by director Amina Harris and affiliated with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will host a honey tasting from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the courtyard of Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, 392 Old Davis Road. "Come taste and learn about UC Davis honey and honey varietals from North America," she said. "Honey available for purchase."

The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology is chaired by nematologist and professor Steve Nadler. Molecular geneticist-physiologist and professor Joanna Chiu serves as the vice chair.  

The Bug Doctor is in! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Head over to the Bug Doctor booth staffed by UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology doctoral students on Saturday, April 23 at Briggs Hall during the 108th annual UC Davis Picnic Day.

The Bug Doctor will be in. Or, make that, the Bug Doctors will be in! They'll answer your questions, whether they're about ants, millipedes (arthropods), spiders (arthropods)--or such fan favorites as lady beetles (aka ladybugs), bees, butterflies, and dragonflies. Puzzled about a bug in your yard? Bring 'em in for identification!

Doctoral candidate Jill Oberski studies ants. (Photo by Phil Ward)

• Xavier Zahnle of the Jason Bond lab, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• Zachary Griebenow of the Phil Ward lab, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Jill Oberski of the Phil Ward lab, 3 to 5 p.m. 

Doctoral candidate Xavier Zahnle studies millipedes.

Griebenow just finished captaining the UC Davis Entomology Games Team that won the championship at the Pacific Branch, Entomology Society of America meeting. The team, comprised of Griebenow, Jill Oberski, Erin "Taylor" Kelly of the Geoffrey Attardo lab, and Madison Hendrick of the Ian Grettenberger lab, will now compete in the nationals during the Entomological Society of America meeting that takes place Nov. 13-16 in Vancouver, British Columbia. 

So, what's your question?

• How do I keep ants from having a family reunion in my kitchen?
• What's the difference between a millipede and a centipede?
• What's an arthropod?
• What do millipedes eat?
• How many species of insects are there in the world? How many described species are there?

Ask away! And keep asking. Who knows, after you've finished talking to the Bug Docs, you may want to pursue a career in entomology. 

Now about those ants having a family reunion in your kitchen....Should we give them name tags?

(Editor's Note: See the complete entomology schedule for UC Davis Picnic Day)

The banner at Briggs Hall says it all. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Briggs Hall, home of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will turn into a bugfest during the 105th annual UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 13.

Think cockroach races, maggot art, and bee and ant displays,  to name a few.

The Briggs Hall activities will take place from 9 a.m. to around 4:30 p.m., announced co-chairs Robert Kimsey, forensic entomologist, and Brendon Boudinot, president of the Entomology Graduate Student Association and a doctoral student in Professor Phil Ward's ant lab. Picnic Day is free and family friendly.

For the cockroach races, participants can pick their favorite "roach athlete" and cheer it to victory. These are husky American roaches.

For maggot art, participants will dip a maggot into water-based, non-toxic paint and position it on paper and let it crawl. Voila! Maggot art, suitable for framing.

Bees? There will be a bee observation hive from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, part of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. And there's the ever-popular honey tasting, at which visitors can sample varietals of honey. The honey tasting event has been nominated for a people's choice UC Davis Picnic Award.

Ants? Graduate students from Professor Phil Ward's lab will talk to visitors about the amazing world of ants. (Ants enjoy picnics, too!)

Among the other scheduled events at Briggs Hall:

• Bug Doctor: The Doctor Is In: Graduate students will identify insects and arachnids and answer questions
• Virtual Reality Bugs: Medical entomologist Geoffrey Attardo will set up a virtual reality system to enable people to view three dimensional models of insects. In VR, the models can be made to look life size, 40 feet tall or anywhere in between, he says. Here's the link that to view them in your web browser: https://skfb.ly/6xVru
• IPM Booth:  UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program professionals will discuss and answer questions about insect pests, beneficial insects and pest control. They will display their publications and live insects. In keeping with tradition, they will give away free lady beetles (lady bugs), to be released in gardens to devour aphids and other soft-bodied insects.
• Mosquito Abatement:  Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District professionals will staff a booth
• Dr. Death: Forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey will staff his traditional Dr. Death booth, inviting the visitors to ask questions and look through microscopes.
• Davis Fly Fishers: The anglers will demonstrate fly-tying techniques in Briggs 158
• Aquatic Insects: Professor Sharon Lawler's lab will display a number of aquatic insects.
• Scavenger Hunt: Participants will search for and identify insects. 
• Insect Face Painting: Entomology Club members will face-paint bees, butterflies, lady beetles and other insects
• T-Shirt Sales: Visitors can take their pick or picks among insect-themed t-shirts (popular t-shirts include beetles and honey bees) Selection and prices are online at https://mkt.com/UCDavisEntGrad/ 
• Bake Sale: The Entomology Club will offer insect-themed baked goods.

Bohart Museum of Entomology. Meanwhile, over at the Bohart Museum of Entomology (Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane), activities will abound from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The theme is "Will Travel for Bugs: The Bohart Museum of Entomology's Collections From Around the World."  Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator, said that "At the Bohart, we are focusing on the various countries from around the world and some of their insect fauna." The 12 countries that the Bohart is highlighting are Australia, Belize, Democratic Republic of Congo, Korea, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Republic of South Africa, Turkey and the United States. The museum houses nearly eight million insect specimens, a gift shop and a live "petting zoo."  Visitors will be invited to "vote for the Bohart"  for a people's choice award. (See more on yesterday's Bug Squad for highlights.)

A QR code, linked to the voting survey, will be displayed at Briggs Hall and the Bohart Museum. Or folks can vote here from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. April 13.

Theme of the UC Davis Picnic Day celebration is "Adventure Awaits."

Insects (compliments of the UC Davis Department of Entommology and Nematology), await, too.

A Madagascar hissing cockroach. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The fair opened Friday, July 13 and continues through Sunday, July 29.

You'll see beneficial insects, such as honey bees and lady beetles (aka lady bugs) and pests that ravage our crops.

"Danger lurks in a backyard garden," a sign informs visitors. "Aphids, cutworms, mealybugs and other pests are preying on your vegetables and flowers. Who's a gardener to turn to for help? Bring in the reinforcements and enlist the aid of Beneficial Bugs that will crusade against the Invasive Species and help keep your pest outbreaks under control. Native plants naturally attract these Beneficial Bugs, equipping your garden with its own pest managers. Low costs and low water--It's a win/win!"

Madagascar hissing cockroaches from the Bohart draw "oohs" and "yecchs." Visitors learn that "these cockroaches inhabit Madagascar, a large island off southeastern Africa. They speed up plant decomposition in their native environment, providing an important ecological service.  When provoked, Madagascar hissing cockroaches hiss through their spiracles, the tiny tubes through which insects breathe. Spiracles are visible on adults as tiny black dots on the edges of their bodies."

Another sign meant to engage visitors reads: "If you were a bug, which would you be?" You'll see images of everything from a butterfly to a dragonfly, from a honey bee and lady bug, and from an assassin bug to a praying mantis, not to mention a grasshopper, cockroach, ant, and spider.  

Comments varied:

• One teenage girl poked her head through the Bug Barn door, glanced at the displays, and dashed off, proclaiming   "Bugs give me the creeps!"
• A middle-aged woman declared to all present: "I hate, hate bugs!"
• A preschooler pointed to the butterflies. "Pretty, Mommy, pretty!"
• A toddler left the Bug Barn waving at the honey bees. "Bye, bye, bees!" he said.

 The good, the bad and the bugly. 

Want to see more insects? The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, UC Davis, is hosting two summer weekend programs, one in August and one in September. hey're free, family friendly and open to the public:

• "Fire and Ice: Extreme California Insects" from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 19
• "Crafty Insects" from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 22.

"For the Aug. 19 open house, we will be exploring extreme insects from the deserts and the mountains of California," said Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum's education and outreach coordinator. "For Sept. 22 we will be having a two-way museum. We will be displaying crafty--think cunning--insects and we are going to ask people to bring insect crafts that they have made, so all those felted, knitted, carved, and sculpted crafts are welcome.  Any and all hand-made, flea-shaped tea cozies are welcomed!"

The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, houses some eight million insect specimens, plus a live "petting zoo" (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, tarantulas and praying mantids) and a year-around gift shop.