- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The work of entomologist Christine Melvin, a graduate of UC Davis, the banner features a hover fly, sphecid wasp, snakefly, bumble bee, aphid, twisted wing parasite and a tardigrade (water bear).
Melvin's artist statement: "It was a pleasure to create an image in honor of the 75th anniversary for the Bohart Museum of Entomology. I spent countless hours at the museum as an undergraduate student and learned so much from so many people who all shared a love for entomology. I wanted the image to include a diverse group of insects, a few California native plants and a banner; all in a heart shape of sorts. The bleeding heart flowers on the left are being visited by a hover fly from the order Diptera. The California poppies on the right have a thread-waisted wasp from the order Hymenoptera on top. On the stem of one of the poppies is an aphid from the order Hemiptera that is being hunted by a snakefly (far right) from the order Neuroptera. In the center of the image, flax flowers are being visited by Franklin's bumble bee, from the order Hymenoptera, in honor of the late Dr. Robbin Thorp. At the bottom right is a tardigrade, which visitors will find a statue of outside the museum building. Finally on the lower left-hand side is a twisted-winged parasite, from the order Strepsiptera, in honor of Dr. Bohart himself."
The Bohart Museum's tardigrade collection includes some 25,000 slide-mounted specimens. It ties in with the 2,112-pound tardigrade sculpture, created by artist Solomon Bassoff of Nevada County, that graces the entrance to the Bohart Museum.
Melvin, who received her degree in the spring of 2017 and moved to the Big Island in July 2019, is on track to receive her master's degree in entomology (distance-learning) through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
"Shortly after moving here, the pandemic began which allowed me a rare chance of living in Hawaii when there were no tourists; I am truly grateful for that experience," she related. "The down-time from the pandemic has also allowed me to really focus on my MS degree which will be complete in the spring of 2022."
For her master's project, she will create an illustrated guide to the butterflies of Northern Yosemite with a heavy emphasis on life history and citizen science. "I am still working on the title," Melvin said. "The courses taken to complete my MS degree included specialized and general entomology, scientific illustration and science communication. It is my goal to make this the first of many entomology focused and illustrated publications to encourage and honor citizen science."
"I will be returning to the mainland in January of 2022 because as much as I love Hawaii, there are more insects on the mainland and I miss them!"
Bohart Museum and Director Toasted. Rain dampened the Crocker Lane event but not the enthusiasm as the crowd toasted the work of the Bohart Museum and its director Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology.
“We should take a moment to not only express our appreciation of the Bohart Museum and the legacy that Dr. Richard Bohart left, but to all the work Lynn has done to make events like this possible and to continue the important work,” emcee Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair and professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, told the crowd.
Bond, who was named Associate Dean for Research and Outreach for Agricultural Sciences, the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences on Oct. 25, said museum collections have “tremendous educational value and they also have amazing research value as well.”
CrowdFund Project. Bond urged the crowd to help support the outreach mission of the museum. Bohart Museum scientists are seeking donations for their traveling insect specimen displays. They aim to raise $5000 by 11:59 p.m., Oct. 31 for their UC Davis CrowdFund project 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. 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."
Donors can do so in memory of someone, a place, or a favorite insect. Bond donated $500 in honor of Lynn Kimsey. The donation page and map are at https://bit.ly/3v4MoaJ
The Bohart Museum, currently closed to the public due to COVID-19 precautions, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane. In addition to its insect collection, the seventh largest in North America, it houses a live “petting zoo,” comprised of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas, and a gift shop (now online), stocked with insect-themed t-shirts, hoodies, jewelry, books, posters and other items. Further information is on the website at https://bohart.ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
A small graphic is posted on the Bohart Museum website with a link to a large PDF that you can download and color.
It's the work of museum associate Christine Melvin, who received her bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Davis. It will soon be a beautiful banner that will grace the Bohart.
The Bohart folks ask: "Can you identify all the animals and plants?" The flora and the fauna? Is your favorite insect there? Or maybe your favorite number? 75?
Directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, the Bohart Museum houses nearly 8 million insect specimens and is the seventh largest insect museum in North America. It is also home to a live "petting zoo," comprised of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and tarantulas. A gift shop (now online) is stocked with insect-themed t-shirts, hoodies, jewelry, posters, books, candy, collecting equipment, and more.
Meanwhile, the Bohart Museum scientists are seeking donations for their traveling insect specimen displays. They aim to raise $5000 by 11:59 p.m., Oct. 31 for their UC Davis CrowdFund project 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. 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."
Like to donate $5? $10? $25? $50? $100? Or more?
You can do so in memory of someone, a place, or your favorite insect! Here's to the bees, the butterflies and the beetles! (And maybe a dragonfly, a syrphid fly or a praying mantis?) Access the donation page and map at https://bit.ly/3v4MoaJ
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Take it from UC Davis entomology student Wade Spencer.
Spencer decided to create a Bohart Museum of Entomology Christmas card--an insect version--and sure enough, Santa is a robber fly. And Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a male argid sawfly.
The idea surfaced when Christine Melvin (who just received her bachelor's degree in entomology from UC Davis) and Spencer were TA'ing (serving as teaching assistants) for Lynn Kimsey's Entomology 100L lab. Kimsey directs the Bohart Museum, home of nearly eight million specimens, and she's a professor in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
The young entomologists decided that the male argid sawfly needed a red nose, just like Rudolph.
As Spencer was photographing the argids, Bohart Museum teen volunteer Noah Crockette walked by. "He suggested we should find an insect with fluffy white facial setae for an 'insect Santa' and the moment he said that the image of an Asilid (robber fly) popped into my mind."
Spencer then searched through the Bohart's asilid collection and found a perfect robber fly. The rest, as they say, is history--or hysterical.
What's next?
"I'm hoping to image some Phasmids (stick insects) to make an insect menorah for Hanukkah as well," Spencer said. (And he just did! See below)
Remember Wade Spencer? He's the one created a peacock jumping spider costume for the Bohart Museum's inhouse Halloween party. Bohart Museum associate Fran Keller videotaped his courtship dance and it went viral--more than two million hits. See Bug Squad.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Rosie, the popular 24-year-old Chilean rose-haired tarantula at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis, is approaching the end of her natural life span.
So when a UC Davis student donated the same species, a four-year-old taranatula (Grammostola rosea), to the museum in late January, Bohart officials launched a contest: “Name the tarantula.”
Meet “Peaches.”
The name won out over Cuddles, Matilda, Bambi, Bobbie, Charlotte, Fluffy, Harriet, Maria, Pinkie, Rush, Tammy, Tessie, Twinkie, Lucy and Mandy, as well as Chili (Chilean rose-haired tarantula), Pepper (Chili pepper) and Gramma (Grammostola rosea).
The arachnid, native to Chile and also common in Bolivia and Argentina, is a favorite of the exotic pet trade market and is sold in many American and European pet stores
“It's good to have a name like Peaches,” said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and professor of entomology at UC Davis. “If you name it something like Fang, some of our Bohart Museum visitors would be afraid to hold it. We need to get people past the fear so they're not terrified.”
Tarantulas are generally harmless to humans, even though they do produce a venom to kill their insect prey.
Peaches, who is held every day, is a beautiful tarantula and quite docile, Kimsey said. Her counterpart, Rosie, was a popular attraction at open houses and at the annual UC Davis Picnic Day, where as many as 400 held her in one day. Visitors delighted in capturing images of her.
But now, Rosie is quite frail, Kimsey said, and quite old. Female tarantulas can live some 30 years.
Peaches is now part of the educational exhibit at the Bohart, where personnel will explain why a tarantula is not an insect, but a part of the spider family. It has two main parts, the prosoma (or cephalothorax) and the opisthosoma (or abdomen). A waist-like pedicle connects the two. They have small spinelike urticating hairs on their abdomen that they may release when threatened.
Peaches' menu includes crickets and mealworms. Rose-haired tarantulas also dine on grasshoppers, moths, beetles and cockroaches. Larger tarantulas catch larger prey, including mice and frogs.
Other special attractions at the Bohart Museum's live “petting zoo” include Madagascar hissing cockroaches and walking sticks.
The museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, 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. Noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007) founded the museum.
The Bohart Museum is open to the public from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. The museum is closed to the public on Fridays and on major holidays. Admission is free. Open houses, focusing on specific themes, are held on weekends throughout the academic year. Admission is free.
The Bohart Museum will be one of six museums open on the UC Davis Fourth Annual Biodiversity Museum Day, to take place Sunday, Feb. 8 from 12 noon to 4 p.m.. Other collections open will be at the Center for Plant Diversity, the Botanical Conservatory, the Paleontology Collection, the Anthropology Collection, and the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology.
The remainder of the Bohart Museum's open houses:
- Sunday, Feb. 8: “Biodiversity Museum Day,” noon to 4 p.m.
- Saturday, March 14: “Pollination Nation,” 1 to 4 p.m.
- Saturday, April 18: UC Davis Picnic Day, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Sunday, May 17: “Name That Bug! How About Bob?” 1 to 4 p.m.
- Saturday, July 18: “Moth Night,” 8 to 11 p.m.
For more information, contact the Bohart Museum at (530) 752-0493 or emailing bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Cultural entomologist Emmet Brady, host of the Insect News Network, a Davis-based program on radio station KDRT 95.7 FM, is planning something special on Friday, Nov. 14 in Nevada City and you're all invited.
It's called "Cross Pollination: a Microcosmic Journey and it's a live filming segment on the art and the science of the microcosm, complete with decor, multimedia projections, interactive installations and costumes-- to showcase what Brady calls "the amazing designs, habits and beauty of insects, spiders and flowers."
Folks are invited to dress as their favorite insect, spider or flower to celebrate a gathering of the insect tribe.
The event footage will then be webcast in January for the Bee-A-Thon 4, an annual event to raise awareness about honey bees, pollinators and the importance of the microcosm.
The event will take place from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the Miners' Foundry Cultural Center, 325 Spring St., Nevada City. For more information, access the specially created Facebook page.
Brady says Love and Light, Pega5u5 (Mr. Rogers and Pharroh), Ra So, Sambadrop, and Eminent Bee will be among the entertainers, with microscopic visuals by Sonik Galixsee.
If you dressed up as an insect, spider or flower costume for Halloween, no problem. You can resurrect your costume.
Or just create something special. Expand on the idea of butterfly wings worn by UC Davis entomology graduate student Christine Melvin at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. The wings were a popular attraction last month as visitors to the UC Davis insect museum tried on the wings and pretended to be monarchs on their migration to overwintering sites along coastal California and in central Mexico.