- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Or come for the hissers, stay for the ants.
Either way, it's all good.
When the Bohart Museum of Entomology hosts an open house on Sunday, May 21 from 1 to 4 p.m., ants will be the main attraction, but don't forget the critters in the live "petting zoo."
The Phil Ward lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will provide live ants and specimens, and answer questions, one on one.
The open house, free and family friendly, takes place in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.
At the petting zoo, you can meet Princess Herbert, Coco McFluffin, Peaches and Beatrice and more.
Those are just a few of the tenants, says research associate Brittany Kohler, the zookeeper. Here are some of the critters:
Walking Sticks (5 species):
- Great thin stick insects (Ramulus nematodes), native to Malaysia, dimorphic (blue males)
- Borneo thorny stick insect (Aretaon asperrimus), native to Borneo
- Vietnamese stick insect (Medauroidea extradentata), native to Vietnam
- Golden-eyed stick insect (Peruphasma schultei) native to Peru/Ecuador
- Australian Leaf insect (Extatosoma tiaratum), native to Northern forests of Australia
Tarantulas/Spiders (6 species):
- Princess Herbert, the Brazilian salmon-pink bird-eating tarantula (Lasiodora parahybana). She is estimated to be around 20 years old, the oldest current resident of the Bohart Museum
- Peaches, the Chilean rose hair tarantula (Grammostola rosea)
- Coco McFluffin, the Chaco golden knee tarantula (Grammostola pulchripes), native to Paraguay and Argentina
- Two black widows (Latrodectus hesperus)
- One brown widow (Latrodectus geometricus)
Cockroaches (2 species):
- Madagascar hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina sp.)
- Giant Cave cockroach (Blaberus giganteus)
Centipede:
- Beatrice the Vietnamese centipede (Scolopendra subspinipes), the newest resident
Also:
- Ironclad beetles
- Bark scorpion
The Bohart Museum, directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, plus the petting zoo and a gift shop stocked with insect-themed books, posters, jewelry, t-shirts, hoodies and more. Founded in 1946 and committed to "understanding, documenting and communicating terrestrial arthropod diversity," the Bohart Museum is named for UC Davis professor and noted entomologist Richard Bohart. The insect museum is open to the public Mondays through Thursdays, from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m.
More information is available on the Bohart website at https://bohart.ucdavis.edu or by emailing bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Then around 5:30 comes the urgent message from her colleague, arachnologist Jason Bond, associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Natural Resources and the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology. The Bond lab and the Bohart Museum share a portion of the first floor of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane.
Lynn, there's a water leak at the Bohart Museum! Emergency!
Lynn hurries to her car and heads to the Bohart Museum. When she enters the building, there in the hallway is the "wet area," blocked with yellow "caution" floor signs and a bright orange pylon.
Except the "wet area" is dry. Bone dry.
Surprise! Surprise! Happy birthday!
Unbenownest to Kimsey, the UC Davis Entomology Club (advised by her husband, forensic entomologist Bob Kimsey, adjunct professor with the Department of Entomology and Nematology), had earlier decorated the museum with birthday balloons, banners and streamers.
Meanwhile, where is Bob? He had finished preparing taco fixings at their son's home for the birthday celebration and was heading toward the Yolo Causeway (connecting West Sacramento with Davis), when traffic delayed him.
Not to worry, Bob and the taco fixings made it.
Meanwhile, Lynn sets about opening a myriad of gifts, including a miniature hinged box from Keller ("Lynn likes tiny boxes," Keller said). Other gifts include an "Educated Guess" wine from Oakville, and a 10-inch radio-controlled tarantula, billed as "big, hairy and scary."
It wasn't. But with Lynn Kimsey at the controls, the tarantula races around the floor, stopping at feet that pretend to stomp it.
This was a milestone birthday celebration! (We're not telling which one, but Lynn Kimsey probably will!)
The "big, hairy and scary" radio-controlled tarantula is now sharing the Bohart Museum with several live tarantulas from its petting zoo:
- Princess Herbert, the Brazilian salmon-pink bird-eating tarantula (Lasiodora parahybana). She is estimated to be around 20 years old, the oldest current resident of the Bohart Museum
- Peaches, the Chilean rose hair tarantula (Grammostola rosea)
- Coco McFluffin, the Chaco golden knee tarantula (Grammostola pulchripes), native to Paraguay and Argentina
Kimsey and other Bohart Museum officials are now gearing up for the 12th annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, a Super Science Day, set Saturday, Feb. 18 when 11 museums or collections (including the Bohart) open their doors to the public. It's free and family friendly. (See line-up)
The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, plus a petting zoo, featuring Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and tarantulas; and a year-around gift shop, stocked with insect-themed books, posters, jewelry, t-shirts, hoodies and more. Named for UC Davis professor and noted entomologist Richard Bohart (1913-2007), the museum is dedicated to "understanding, documenting and communicating terrestrial arthropod diversity."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Curious visitors crowded around the flightless beetle, taking multiple cell phone images as Kohler fielded multiple questions.
"I found it in the Sierra Foothills, by Murphys," said Kohler, a UC Davis alumna and prospective graduate student. Murphys, located in Calaveras County, sits in the central Sierra Nevada foothills between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park.
What's unusual about this inch-long beetle, found in the deserts of western North America and living on fungi growing under tree bark?
It lies flat and low to the ground and is built like a little armored tank. It can withstand crushing forces--not just your foot, a pinch, or a battering ram, but a 3400-pound car. UC Riverside researcher Jesus Rivera, now of UC Irvine, performed compression tests in 2015: a Toyota Camry drove over the beetle twice and it survived.
"A 200-pound man would have to endure the crushing weight of 7.8 million pounds to equal this feat," according to a UCI news release, published Oct. 21, 2020.
Rivera's research, "Toughening Mechanisms of the Elytra of the Diabolical Ironclad Beetle," published in the Oct. 21 edition of Nature, drew widespread coverage, ranging from the New York Times and Science to the Smithsonian magazine.
The beetle's tough structure, notably the densely layered and interlocking wing covers, or elytra, seem out of this world.
"...The beetle's exoskeleton uses internal layers, tight joints and overall near-indestructible shape to give it both toughness and flexibility under pressure," wrote correspondent Theresa Machemer in the Oct. 22 edition of the Smithsonian magazine.
Katherine Wu of the New York Times related that the researchers "assessed the tensile strength and composition of the beetle's exterior with a suite of ultrasensitive instruments. The ironclad's exoskeleton, they found, was packed with proteins that seemed to enhance its durability. It was also cleverly structured: Evolved from a pair of now-defunct forewings, the exoskeleton stretched across the insect's back and hooked into a separate structure sheathing the insect's belly, encasing the beetle in a shell with an airy buffer underneath."
Wu compared the arrangement "to an industrial-strength egg, with the yolk sloshing gently against a cushion of whites."
Said Kohler of the Bohart Museum display: "Surprisingly, none of the visitors really knew about them; they were interested to learn that they were so tough externally and that they ate mushrooms--they are fungiphores. The children had the best time using the magnifying glasses to look at them along with being able to touch, and hold them!"
The amazing world of insects...
The Bohart Museum of Entomology, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, including a million beetles. Directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, the museum also houses a live "petting zoo" (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects, tarantulas and more) and a year-around gift shop. The Bohart is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Oh, my!
If you visit the Bohart Museum of Entomology's petting zoo, you'll see Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects, tarantulas, cave roaches, black widow spiders, a brown widow spider, and a Vietnamese centipede named Beatrice, the newest resident.
Oh, my!
Insects fascinate Teddy Marlatte of Auburn, so it was only natural that his parents, Chris and Maddy Marlatte would drive him to the Bohart Museum on Thursday, Jan. 12, to help him celebrate his fourth birthday.
His little sister, Reagan, 1-1/2, tagged along, too, but she favored her stuffed animal. Insects will come later!
"Teddy loves discovering things and looking at details and learning," his mother commented. "I think he could become an entomologist. A career with endless discovery and love for the finer details is right up his alley."
"It was our first time coming and we can't wait to visit again!" she said.
The Marlatte family admired dozens of specimens (the Bohart Museum houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens) and then headed toward the petting zoo.
In awe, Teddy watched stick insects crawl up his arm, petted a Madagascar hissing cockroach, and observed (in their glass habitats), tarantulas named Princess Herbert, Coco McFluffin, Peaches and Cha-Cha; cave roaches; black widow spiders; and a brown widow spider.
"Kids really like the walking sticks, particularly the Peruvians and thornies (Borneo thorny stick insect," said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology.
The museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus, is dedicated to "Understanding, documenting and communicating terrestrial arthropod diversity."
The petting zoo, a fan favorite, has been a part of the Bohart Museum since its beginnings in Briggs Hall. Founded in 1946, the museum is named for noted entomologist and UC Davis professor Richard Bohart (1913–2007).
"We've had the petting zoo since we were in Briggs Hall (1990s-ish) but nothing like the current scale," said Kimsey, a UC Davis doctoral alumna who studied with "Doc" Bohart.
Bohart Museum research associate Brittany Kohler, a prospective graduate student, serves as "The Zookeeper," assisted by Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator, and various students.
Kohler lists the current residents:
Walking Sticks (5 species):
- Great thin stick insects (Ramulus nematodes), native to Malaysia, dimorphic (blue males)
- Borneo thorny stick insect (Aretaon asperrimus), native to Borneo
- Vietnamese stick insect (Medauroidea extradentata), native to Vietnam
- Golden-eyed stick insect (Peruphasma schultei) native to Peru/Ecuador
- Australian Leaf insect (Extatosoma tiaratum), native to Northern forests of Australia
- Princess Herbert, the Brazilian salmon-pink bird-eating tarantula (Lasiodora parahybana). She is estimated to be around 20 years old, the oldest current resident of the Bohart Museum
- Peaches, the Chilean rose hair tarantula (Grammostola rosea)
- Cha-Cha, the Mexican fire-leg tarantula (Brachypelma boehmei)
- Coco McFluffin, the Chaco golden knee tarantula (Grammostola pulchripes), native to Paraguay and Argentina
- Two black widows (Latrodectus hesperus)
- One brown widow (Latrodectus geometricus)
- Madagascar hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina sp.)
- Giant Cave cockroach (Blaberus giganteus)
- Beatrice the Vietnamese centipede (Scolopendra subspinipes), the newest resident
- Ironclad beetles
- Bark scorpion
The Vietnamese stick insect colony (Medauroidea extradentata) is an all-female colony, Kohler said. "They are parthenogenetic (a form of reproduction in which an egg can develop into an embryo without being fertilized by sperm). "Someone from the public recently named one Wubbie, the largest brown color morph."
Kimsey estimated that the Madagascar hissing cockroaches, aka "hissers," live about five years, and the cave roaches "probably the same."
"Tarantulas live decades, at least 25 years, probably longer," Kimsey said. "Stick insects? Not sure, but I'd guess up to a year."
During the Auburn family's Jan. 12 visit, Yang and Kohler introduced and discussed the zoo residents and answered questions.
And Teddy? His facial expressions said it all.
Editor's Note: The Bohart Museum is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. Group reservations may be made through bmuseum@ucdavis.edu. The Bohart will host an open house, focusing on beetles, from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 22. Open to the public, it is free and family friendly. Among the presenters will be UC Davis graduate student and burying beetle researcher Tracie Hayes of the laboratory of Professor Louie Yang, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; beetle specialist Fran Keller, biology professor at Folsom Lake College and a Bohart Museum scientist and UC doctoral alumna; and Cal Fire bark beetle specialist Curtis Ewing, a senior environmental scientist, Forest Entomology and Pathology.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Talented artists continually create stunning work at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology (who herself worked as a scientific illustrator under her maiden name, Lynn Siri).
The most current art/science work that graces the Bohart Museum hallway of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane: "Birdwing Butterfly" and "Spiral Galaxy of Butterflies."
Both are the work of two recent UC Davis alumni: Francisco Bassó Medel, who received his bachelor's degree in wildlife, fish and conservation biology, and Bohart laboratory assistant Brittany Kohler, who holds a bachelor's degree in nutrition science, with a minor in evolution, ecology and biodiversity.
"The displays were Lynn's idea, as a means to add more art to the museum and use existing specimens that had no data on them, so they could not be used for research purposes," Francisco said. "Lynn gave Brittany and I full creative liberty on how to make the pieces, that is something that I greatly appreciated."
"Spiral Galaxy of Butterflies" is comprised of commercially reared tropical butterflies from the 1960s. None were wild-caught and none contain collection data.
"For the 'Spiral Galaxy of Butterflies,' we spent about one full work day, spread through several days," Francisco related. "This piece is meant to represent a galaxy, with several planets and stars around it, and a black hole in the middle. We also hid a fly (a bee fly specimen or bombyliid) in there. Hopefully, people will have fun trying to find it and at the same time look at the details of each butterfly and moth."
Francisco worked at the Bohart Museum over the summer and "I am currently working on the new web page for the Bohart and applying to graduate schools."
Brittany said she's "always been an artist and interested in natural science. I use all mediums and enjoys mixed media to create art." Her membership in the UC Davis Entomology Club enabled her to "explore and get back into what I am truly passionate about." She plans to enroll in graduate school "and that will include entomological pursuits."
"Birdwing Butterfly" is comprised of 112 Brooke's birdwing butterflies, Trogonoptera brookiana, which originated from a commercial rearing facility in Southeast Asia in the 1960s. Birdwings, so named due to their birdlike flight, large size and angular wings. are found throughout tropical Asia.
The species are "dimorphic; the females contain white patches in their upper wing while the males are distinctly black and green," Kimsey noted. Like the Galaxy specimens, none were wild caught and none contain collection data. The lack of data makes them scientifically invaluable for research purposes.
Francisco credited Brittany with "Birdwing Butterfly." He added: "I only did an initial sketch of it and the piece was put together by Brittany."
Entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection at the Bohart Museum, spread all the butterflies. "All of the specimens lingered unspread in paper envelopes for about 50 years," he estimated. "The butterflies in the Spiral Galaxy came from unlabeled surplus material from Chiapas, Mexico."
The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, as well as the live "petting zoo" and an insect-themed gift shop stocked with t-shirts, hoodies, books, posters, jewelry, collecting equipment and more.
Founded in 1946 and named for UC Davis professor and noted entomologist Richard Bohart, the insect museum is open to the public from 8 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 5 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays.