A praying mantis here. A lady beetle there. A sawtoothed-grain beetle there.

Entomologist-artist Karissa Merritt kept busy at the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology's open house on “Insects and Art” last Sunday, Jan. 21 as she demonstrated how to draw insects.

“I took requests from kids that came by and asked what their favorite insect was," said Merritt, a third-year UC Davis entomology student and transfer from the College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita.  “It was touching to see how something like mundane doodling could bring smiles to kids' faces. In fact, many ended up going home with original art work!”

Using green and black markers, James Harris, 13, of Winters colored Merritt's drawing of a praying mantis as his father, Rick Harris, watched.  No stranger to the campus, Rick Harris received his master's degree in systematic entomology from UC Davis, studying with major professor Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology.  One of Rick's classmates was Lynn Kimsey, now director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology.

Insect enthusiasts Addie Angle, 13, and her brother, Dalton, 6,  who are enrolled in entomology projects in the Misty Mountain 4-H Club, Nevada City, admired the many art displays, which included arthropod illustrations by Lynn Siri Kimsey, Charlotte Herbert,  Ivani Li and the late Mary Foley Benson. They also colored dragonflies from Dragonflies of North America: A Color and Learn Book with Activities, the work of dragonfly expert/author Kathy Claypole Biggs and illustrator Tim Manolis.

Merritt says insects have always fascinated her. "I've always loved insects and the natural world but I didn't realize entomology was a viable career choice until one of my friends starting working in the Essig Museum of Entomology at UC Berkeley," she said. While attending community college in Santa Clarita ("a suburb of Los Angeles known for its SoCal's Six Flags Magic Mountain, and the location for the new Netflix show The Santa Clarita Diet"), she developed a strong interest in pollinators and “a particular interest in bees and how I can contribute to their future."

"What fascinates me the most about insects is how alien their biology and morphology as compared to vertebrates,” said Merritt, who works at the Bohart Museum and gained beekeeping experience while volunteering at the Elina Niño honey bee lab at the Harry H.Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility.

Another highlight of her insect experiences: last year she attended the ENTOMOLOGY 109: Insect Taxonomy and Field Ecology, aka "Bug Boot Camp," an intensive five-week field course based at the Sagehen Creek Field Station, in California's northern Sierra Nevada. It's taught by noted ant specialist Phil Ward, UC Davis professor of entomology. "I enjoyed collecting insects and identifying them," she said. "My favorite part of the course was being out in nature and exploring the Sierras while catching really cool insects! It was a bit challenging for me, because although I took ENT 100 with Lynn Kimsey the previous fall, my identification skills weren't that great. Overall, it was a wonderful experience, and I always recommend it to people who are interested in entomology!”

Career plans? “I'd like to work with farmers, altering agricultural landscapes for the benefit of pollinators, such as both, native and honey bees,” Merritt said. “I would also like to apply such methods in more urban landscapes, thereby restoring a bit of the ecology lost to urbanization and reuniting communities with nature.”

Yes, she has a favorite order of insects--Hymenoptera. "But working in the Bohart, I find many specimens that just amaze me with their beauty. Insects are just so diverse and it's amazing what nature produces!”

One of her other favorite insects is the Chinese moon moth or Chinese luna moth (Actias dubernardi). A colorful tattoo of the moth on her left forearm won her the tattoo contest at the Bohart Museum open house. She shared prizes (T-shirts or Bohart cups from the Bohart Museum gift shop) with the other winners. biology teacher Jean Replicon of Mission College, Santa Clara, best attired adult, and five-year-old Jasper Ott of Davis, best attired youth. Replicon wore a dress with a lady beetle motif, and Jasper wore a T-shirt with an ant motif.

The Bohart Museum's next open house will take place during the seventh annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, a free, public event on Saturday, Feb. 17 showcasing 13 collections or museums on the UC Davis campus.

Oh, that praying mantis! Oh, that jumping spider!

When you attend the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology's open house on Sunday, Jan. 21, featuring insect art, you will find art so intricate and so breathtaking that you may change your career path!

The family friendly event, free and open to the public, takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building.

Two of the talented artists showing their work will be Charlotte Herbert, who is seeking her doctorate in entomology from UC Davis, and Ivana Li, a UC Davis biology lab manager who received her bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Davis in 2013.

Herbert studies Asilidae (assassin fly) evolution with major professor Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and professor of entomology. "I hope to someday make my own scientific illustrations for taxonomic revisions," Herbert says. "My dream is to be a curator of an entomology museum." Herbert started drawing and painting in 2015 and "have loved it ever since." She now helps teach Entomology 001, and entomology and art fusion class. 

Li, a past president of the UC Davis Entomology Club and a recipient of the UC Davis Department of Entomology's 2012 Outstanding Undergraduate Award, recalls that her fascination with insects began in early childhood but she didn't know the meaning of “entomologist” until her second-grade encounter with Chester. Chester is the main character of George Selden's Newbery-award winning book, A Cricket in Times Square. 

"I was pretty thrilled that to find out that there was actually a job in which you get to study insects," Li recalled. "That was the best. It still is.”

The open house, "Bug-Art@The Bohart," will feature a number of artists. UC Davis undergraduate student and artist Karissa Merritt will be on-hand sketching insects for all to see, said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator.  You'll see:

• Art from the collection of the late Mary Foley Bensen, a former Smithsonian Institution scientific illustrator who lived the last years of her life in Davis, and who worked for entomology faculty
• Art  from Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and professor of entomology, who illustrated under her maiden name Lynn Siri
• Art by Charlotte Herbert, Ph.D. student; and UC Davis alumni Ivana Li and Nicole Tam, who hold degrees in entomology from UC Davis
• Exhibit of "insect wedding photography" by Bohart associates Greg Kareofelas and Kathy Keatley Garvey

Visitors are also invited to pick up a colored pencil and paper and sketch an insect, said Yang. For those not artistically inclined, images of dragonflies from Dragonflies of North America: A Color and Learn Book with Activities by dragonfly expert/author Kathy Biggs and illustrator Tim Manolis, will be available for people of all ages to color.

Open house attendees are invited to wear insect-themed attire, including dresses, ties, and jewelry. A contest will take place at 3 p.m. for the best insect-themed outfit, and for the best insect-themed tattoo (tattoo must be in a family friendly location).

Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the butterfly and moth collection at the Bohart and is newly returned from a collecting trip to Belize, will be on hand to show the Bohart collection.

In connection with Bohart open house, campus visitors can tour the Design Museum exhibit, It's Bugged: Insects' Role in Design, in 124 Cruess Hall from 2 to 4 p.m. The exhibit, which runs through April 22, includes art from faculty and students affiliated with the UC Davis Department of Design, and specimens from the Bohart Museum, as well as images by UC Davis alumnus and noted insect photographer Alex Wild, curator of entomology at the University of Texas, Austin. Wild received his doctorate in entomology from UC Davis in 2005, studying with major professor Phil Ward. 

The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of nearly eight million specimens. It is also the home of the seventh largest insect collection in North America, and the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity.   Special attractions include a “live” petting zoo, featuring Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, praying mantids and tarantulas. Visitors are invited to hold some of the arthropods and photograph them.  The museum's gift shop, open year around, includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy. 
 
The Bohart Museum holds special open houses throughout the academic year. Its regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. The museum is closed to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and on major holidays. Admission is free. More information on the Bohart Museum is available by contacting (530) 752-0493 or emailing bmuseum@ucdavis.edu or Tabatha Yang at tabyang@ucdavis.edu.

Butterfly heaven!

Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the butterfly and moth collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, is in butterfly heaven.

And even more so now--he just returned from a collecting trip to Belize with his colleagues and brought back some 700 to 800 Lepidoptera specimens.

Smith will be among those presenting at the Bohart Museum's open house on "Bug-Art@The Bohart" from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 21. The event, free and open to the public, will include art displays,  sketching demonstrations;  coloring of dragonfly images, and other insect-art interests, including an insect tattoo contest and an insect-themed attire contest.

How large is the Bohart's Lepidoptera collection? It has now reached about half a million, estimates Smith, a longtime volunteer honored with a UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences' "Friend of the College" award. "I believe I spread over 4,000 specimens from an August 2017 trip to Belize, and brought back maybe 700-800 more from this recent Belize trip, so the numbers continue to grow."

Specifically, what's on tap for the Bohart open house? UC Davis entomology major and artist Karissa Merritt will demonstrate how to sketch insects. 

Other art featured will be that of the late Mary Foley Bensen, a former Smithsonian Institution scientific illustrator who moved to Davis and worked for UC Davis entomology faculty; Lynn Siri Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and professor of entomology; and Charlotte Herbert, Ph.D. student; and UC Davis entomology alumni/artists Ivana Li and Nicole Tam. An exhibit of "insect wedding photography" images by Bohart associates Greg Kareofelas and Kathy Keatley Garvey is also planned.

Visitors will be invited to sketch insects. If you're not artistically inclined, you can color the images of dragonflies from a coloring book by dragonfly expert/author Kathy Claypole Biggs and illustrator Tim Manolis.

The open house will definitely be interactive! Attendees are invited to wear insect-themed attire and jewelry. A contest will take place at 3 p.m. for the best insect-themed outfit, and for the best insect-themed tattoo (tattoo must be in a family friendly site).

Also on Jan. 21, insect/art enthusiasts are invited to view the unique exhibition, It's Bugged: Insects' Role in Design from 2 to 4 p.m. in Room 124 of Cruess Hall. The exhibit, which continues through April 22 (the event is free and open on weekdays from noon to 4 p.m. and on Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m.) features the work of faculty and graduate students from the Department of Design; specimens from the Bohart Museum; and insect photography by UC Davis alumnus Alex Wild, curator of entomology, University of Texas, Austin.

World-renowned for its global collection of nearly eight million specimens, the Bohart Museum also maintains a live “petting zoo,” featuring walking sticks, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, praying mantids, and tarantulas. A gift shop, open year around, offers T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy. The Bohart's regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. The museum is closed to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and on major holidays. Admission is free. For more information, contact the bmuseum@ucdavis.edu or access the website or Facebook page.

Most people avoid a hornet's nest.

Not environmental artist Ann Savageau; the retired UC Davis Department of Design professor creates art from hornet nest paper.

"I began using hornet nest paper back in Ann Arbor, Mich. in the early 1990s," said Savageau, who describes herself as "an environmental artist who creates mixed-media  sculpture and installations."

"Hornet's nests are common in that area," she said. "I am attracted to the beautiful colors and patterns."

Her art will be among works displayed at the UC Davis Design Museum's exhibition, It's Bugged: Insects' Role in Design, set  Jan. 8-April 22 in Room 124 of Cruess Hall. The show is open to the public from noon to 4 p.m. weekdays and from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is free.

The professor emerita, a member of the UC Davis faculty from 2003 to 2014 and now a full-time artist, says her work deals with the natural world, human culture, and their intersection.  "My current interests include  global warming and environmental destruction; consumer culture and  wasteful consumption; and artistic transformations of waste." Her Stanford anthropological training, her interest in the natural world,  and the many places she has lived are reflected in her art, which she has displayed in more than  80 exhibitions, both nationally and  internationally.

For the UC Davis exhibition, Savageau created a trilogy of wall pieces made from hornets' nest paper, and a set of sculptures made of wood etched into striking patterns by bark beetle larvae.

Savageau said she collected only unoccupied hornet nests in the Ann Arbor area, which she found on tree branches or lower in bushes. She has never been stung. "I collected the nests in late fall or winter, after some hard frosts, when the nests were empty (no life inside)," she said. "The queen leaves the nest and hibernates, under a log or some other protected place."

The nests she's collected range in size from a basketball to 30 inches in diameter.

The artistic process? "The paper on the nest is many layers deep," Savageau related. "I peel the paper off the nest—it comes off in irregular sizes and shapes.  Then I collage it onto foam core, matching the irregular pieces in such a way that they appear to be  one large sheet.  The pieces are usually no larger than four to six inches.  It's similar to piecing together a jigsaw puzzle." 

The artist, who holds a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and her master's degree in fine arts from Wayne State University, Detroit, taught at the University of Michigan Residential College, Ann Arbor, from 1978-2002 before joining the UC Davis faculty in 2003.   (See more of her work at http://annsavageau.com/)

"The colors and patterns of a hornet's nest are indeed exquisite," said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology at UC Davis. "We have several hornet nests as part of our museum's collection, and one is huge--larger than a basketball." The  bald-faced hornet, Dolichoves pulamaculata, crafts the papery, egg-shaped nests by mixing wood fibers with saliva. The insect's name refers to the ivory-white markings on its face. Its thorax, legs and abdomen also have white markings.  

The hornet nest closes down in late fall or winter, Kimsey said, and the queen leaves to hibernate for the winter in such protected places as in hollow trees and fence posts, or under logs, bark or rock piles. In the spring, the queen emerges to begin building a nest, which eventually may contain some 400 to 700 workers. The nests are mottled gray with layered hexagonal combs.

The bald-faced hornets are considered important to the ecosystem in that they pollinate plants and prey upon many insect pests. They are, however, known for their highly defensive behavior in protecting their nests.

A reception heralding the opening of the Design Museum exhibition is set from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 11. Savageau will give a presentation on the exhibition at 6:30 p.m. in Room 256 of Cruess Hall.

 (Visit the Design Museum for map and parking information.)