- 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.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Give them a 21-insect net salute.
That's what occurred at a recent retirement celebration honoring the legacy of UC Davis distinguished professor emerita Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology for 34 years.
Kimsey, who joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology (now the Department of Entomology and Nematology) in 1989, became the director of the Bohart Museum in 1990.
Noted entomologist Richard "Doc" Bohart (1913-2007) founded the insect museum in 1946. UC Davis Chancellor James Meyer (1922-2002) dedicated the facility in 1986 as "the Bohart Museum of Entomology" at a ceremony in Briggs Hall. A highlight: Faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and others saluted him with a 21-insect net salute. They lined up, formed an archway with their nets, and Professor Bohart walked under the archway.
Kimsey, who was Bohart's last graduate student, recalled that event "as one of the funniest memories" of her career when she delivered a speech last November at the Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES) event honoring recipients of its excellence awards. Kimsey received the Exceptional Faculty Award.
Kimsey retired on Feb. 1, 2024 (but she's still doing research and continues to be the executive director of the Bohart Museum Society and the writer-editor-publisher of the quarterly Bohart newsletter.)
Then came the retirement celebration on April 6. Her colleagues, collaborators, faculty, staff and students gathered in a Mathematics Building classroom on Crocker Lane for speeches, and then headed over to the nearby Bohart Museum for the 21-insect net salute, a buffet and more tributes.
As Kimsey walked beneath the archway of the 21-insect net salute leading into the Bohart Museum, a chorus of cheers and applause greeted her.
She always remember that.
Just as she remembers the first insect net she received at age 5.
“I've always been interested in insects," Kimsey said. "I got my first insect net at age 5.” A portrait of her holding that net graces the Bohart Museum.
Under Kimsey's direction, the Bohart Museum that "Doc" Bohart founded 78 years ago expanded from 400 specimens to some eight million insect specimens today. It is the seventh largest insect collection in North America.
A recognized authority on biodiversity, systematics and biogeography of parasitic wasps, urban entomology, civil forensic entomology, and arthropod-related industrial hygiene, Kimsey holds two entomology degrees from UC Davis: a bachelor's degree (1976) and a doctorate (1979). "I got to pursue my bug interests," she said. "I know it was kind of weird, but even as a little kid it was fun."
It still is, Kimsey told the crowd at her retirement celebration.
The new Bohart Museum director is arachnologist and Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in the Department of Entomology and Nematology and associate dean, College of Environmental Sciences (CA&ES).
Resources:
- Access the UC Davis Entomology and Nematology website for the retirement celebration story.
- Listen to Kimsey's speech recorded by Walter Leal, UC Davis distinguished professor of molecular and cell biology and former chair of the Department of Entomology. It is posted on X (formerly Twitter) at https://x.com/wsleal2014/status/1776732932901863666)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you're a member of the Bohart Museum Society--that's "the friends" arm of the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis--you're probably looking forward to the upcoming pre-Halloween party (invitation only).
Or if you love science, you're probably looking forward to when the museum opens to the public. It's temporarily closed, you know, to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic precautions. Admission when it does open? It's free. It's always been free.
But if you want to join the Bohart Museum Society, there are scores of membership benefits:
- Subscription to the Bohart Museum Society newsletter--mailed to you quarterly, as well as the electronic news emailed to you periodically
- Invitation only special events and programs member discounts on gift shop merchandise
- Members' Halloween Open House
- Access to the collections, and free information and identification services from staff
- Museum library use
Memberships are $25 for an individual; $15 for a student; $40 for a family; and $100 for a patron. And, endowment donations are gratefully received. See more information here.
75th Anniversary. The Bohart Museum, now celebrating its 75th year, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, UC Davis. It is currently open only to UC Davis and research communities. As it says on its website: "We are currently open to members of the UC Davis and research communities who are vaccinated and/or have had a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours per UC Davis policy. We need to focus on training our new interns and safely greeting the new UC Davis students first before we can open to the general public. Our store is on-line and items can be shipped or picked up curbside on Friday mornings. Please contact us by email at bmuseum@ucdavis.edu."
The Bohart Museum, the seventh largest insect collection in North America, houses nearly eight million insect specimens, collected from around the world. It also is home to a live "petting zoo" comprised of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and tarantulas, as well as an online gift shop stocked with insect-themed jewelry, clothing, books, posters and other items.
Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, serves as the director of the Bohart Museum, which is named for its founder, noted entomologist Richard 'Doc' Bohart, 1913-2007, a member of the UC Davis entomology faculty for more than 50 years. Kimsey was one of his last graduate students.
Kimsey writes about him: "He led an outstanding career in entomology both as a scientist and teacher. Dr. Bohart ("Doc") began his career at Davis in 1946. He became well-known for the courses he taught on general entomology, insect systematics and a summer field course in insect identification. He served as chair of the Department of Entomology from 1963 to 1967. His scientific research on insect taxonomy and systematics is unparalleled. His publications include three of the most important books on the systematics of the Hymenoptera, including the well-used volume Sphecid Wasps of the World. His journal publications total over 200 articles. He revised many groups of insects, discovered new host-associations or geographic ranges, and described many new species."
"The collections made by him and his students during field courses form the basis for the Bohart Museum's unrivalled collection of the insect fauna of the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains," Kimsey points out. "He and his wife Margaret also contributed many specimens from their collecting trips around the world. He also provided generous personal financial support to the collection." Kimsey interviewed him in 1996 and you can access the one-hour video on this Aggie Video link.
Fundraising Project End Oct. 31. Meanwhile, the Bohart Museum is seeking donations for its traveling insect specimen displays. It has launched a CrowdFund project to raise $5000 by 11:59 p.m., Oct 31 to purchase traveling display boxes for their specimens, which include bees, butterflies and beetles. These are portable glass-topped display boxes that travel throughout Northern California to school classrooms, youth group meetings, festivals, events, museums, hospitals--and more--to help people learn about the exciting world of insect science.
“When COVID halted our in-person outreach programs, we were still able to safely loan these educational materials to teachers,” said Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum's education and outreach coordinator. “Now that UC Davis is open again to students we have all these bright, students on campus with fresh and diverse perspectives,” she said. “We want to support their talent, so the funds we are raising will go to students for the creation of new traveling displays. This fleet of new educational drawers will expand and update what we can offer. Some of our current displays were created 15 years ago! One can only imagine all the places these drawers have been and all the people who have been inspired."
The minimum donation is $5, Yang said. "You can donate in honor or in memory of someone, a place, or an organism, too! There is a map (states and countries) that lights up donor locations. Those of you with a fondness in your hearts for insects, college student experiences, science education, and/or museums, please donate to light up our map!" Access the donation page and map at https://bit.ly/3v4MoaJ
Aggie Pride Week. As part of Aggie Pride Week or Spirit Week, the Bohart Museum hosted a mini-outdoor open house on Saturday, Oct. 16. "This was the Cal Aggie Alumni Association's fall parent weekend for students, parents and alumni," said Yang. See some of the images below.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
You will if you attend the Bohart Museum of Entomology Moth Night on Saturday, Aug. 3 at the University of California, Davis. The event, free and family friendly, is scheduled both inside the museum (Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus) and outside the facility.
Starting at 8 p.m., visitors will gather inside the museum to see the displays, talk to the scientists, and engage in a family craft activity (creating silk moth cocoon necklaces). Then as darkness falls, around 9 or 9:30, blacklighting will take place just outside the museum. Visitors will see a variety of insects on a hanging white sheet that's illuminated by a generator-powered ultraviolet (UV) light.
Free refreshments--hot chocolate and cookies--will be served.
But back to the silk...
Bohart associate Emma Cluff curated a hallway display that links entomology and culture. You'll see moths from the Bohart museum collection, and silk cloth donated by silkworm moth authority Richard Peigler, a biology professor at the University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas.
"He sent us a collection of more than 10 pieces of cloth and several pieces of jewelry that utilize cocoons," Cluff said. "He has sent similar collections of cloth to other research institutions."
"These textiles represent work that has been done for centuries, and in some cases millennia, throughout Asia," Cluff said. "The relationship between these artists and the insects that provide their materials is beautiful and elaborate and we wanted to bring it to light." The hallway display of silkworm moths showcases tasar, tussah, eri and mulberry silk.
Peigler focuses his research primarily on the taxonomy, phylogeny and biology of wild silkmoths (Family Saturniidae) of the world, particularly ones from eastern Asia. His studies encompass ecology, parasitoids, and host plants of wild silkmoths. Silk was first developed in ancient China. "The earliest example of silk has been found in tombs at the neolithic site Jiahu in Henan, and dates back 8,500 years," according to Wikipedia.
What's the craft activity at the Bohart about? "Kids will be able to color and string white cocoons and make necklaces or bracelets with them," Cluff said.
Several scientists will be on hand to discuss moths and answer questions. They include senior museum scientist Steve Heydon of the Bohart Museum; Jeff Smith, curator of the the moth and butterfly specimens; and Bohart associates "Moth Man" John DeBenedictis and Greg Kareofelas.
The Bohart hosts the annual Moth Night in connection with National Moth Week, July 20-28. Scientists estimate there are 150,000 to more than 500,000 moth species. Some are pinhead-size. The largest ones are the Atlas moths, which have a wingspan of 10 to 12 inches.
The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of nearly eight million specimens. Founded in 1946 by Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007), and directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis professor of entomology, it is also the home of the seventh largest insect collection in North America; the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity; a live "petting zoo" and a gift shop. The petting zoo features Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, tarantulas, and praying mantids. The museum's gift shop, open year around, stocks T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.
The Bohart Museum's regular hours have changed for the summer season. As of July 3, the insect museum is hosting 30-minute tours starting at 2:30 and 3:30 pm. No reservations are required and all ages are welcome. Admission is free, but donations are always welcomed. The Bohart is open to walk-in visitors Monday through Thursday from 1 to 5 p.m. It is closed from 9 a.m. to noon to walk-in visits (the insect museum conducts many tours and outreach programs during those times).
More information on the Bohart Museum is available on the website or by contacting (530) 752-0493 or email bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
I'm standing in line at the photo center, waiting to pay for the dozen 8x10 photos of noted entomologist Richard Bohart that I'd ordered for his UC Davis memorial.
“Doc,” as he was called, died Feb. 1, 2007 in Berkeley at age 93 after a career spanning 70 years--33 at UC Davis.
He was a giant of a man. He towered over his fellow linebackers on the UC Berkeley football team in the mid-1930s, and he towered over his entomology colleagues.
During his career, Doc identified more than a million mosquitoes and wasps, named more than 300 new species of insects, authored 230 separate publications and wrote six books on mosquitoes and wasps, including three editions of Mosquitoes of California. An entire family of insects bears his name: Bohartillidae (twisted wing parasites), genus Bohartilla.
Doc founded the Bohart Museum of Entomology in 1946, the same year he joined the UC Davis faculty. Today the museum, a tribute to much of his lifelong work, houses more than 7 million specimens.
So, here I am, standing in line, thinking of his accomplishments and the passion that drove him and the insects that possessed him.
The photo center line shortens and it's my turn. I pay for the photos. “Thanks!" I say. "Nice job! These are of the life of Dr. Bohart, a world-renowned entomologist.”
The clerk, probably in her 30s, looks at me, puzzled. “What,” she asks, “is en-to-mol-ogy?”
She quickly apologizes, saying she ought to know that.
“Study of insects,” I say.
Her question is not unusual. Many folks have no idea what entomology is, which is probably why it should be called “insect science.”
Nancy Dullum, administrative assistant in the UC Davis Department of Entomology, says she's often asked what entomology means and how it's spelled. A UC Davis employee since 1977 (25 years in entomology, including 13 years with the UC Mosquito Research Program, and five years in the dean's office in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences), she's even opened mail addressed to “Department of Antomology.”
Antomology! Now that's creative!
I think “Doc” would have liked that.