- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Just ask the scientists at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, who rear them in their petting zoo. They show them at their open houses, including the recent UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day, and invite folks to get acquainted. But first, they ask "Would you like to hold one?"
The reactions range from "No way! I'm outta here!" to "Yes, yes, of course!"
Finn Jensen, 2 1/2, of Davis, is in the latter category.
He watched as UC Davis doctoral candidate Emma Jochim of the Jason Bond arachnology lab, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, held up a hisser.
Finn could hardly wait. As Jochim gingerly dropped the insect in his hand, he beamed with delight.
"He's been interested in bugs since he first went out and played in the dirt before he could walk," said Mom Jenna. "He loves exploring and helping in the garden while his dad gardens and they lift up logs at his preschool DCCNS (a parent cooperative pre-school) to search for bugs. I worked with flies in grad school so it's fun to see his be a little scientist too."
"This was his first time at both the Bohart Museum and Biodiversity Day," Jenna added, "and we are going back this week to see more. He loved seeing the scorpions that glowed and holding the walking stick bugs and touching the fish, turtles and snakes. He also loved coloring a 'frankenbat' and seeing the skull of a hippopotamus, it was huge!"
In addition to insects, Finn also likes trains "and things with wheels so the ag museum (California Agriculture Museum in Woodland) and railroad museum have been fun to go to lately. He enjoys gardening and yard work with his dad Brent, and going on walks at the Arboretum and Putah Creek."
The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, is open to the public Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to noon, and from 1 to 5 p.m. Directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, it houses a worldwide collection of eight million insect specimens, a live "petting zoo" (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas) and an insect-themed gift shop.
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)
- 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
Want to hold a Madagascar hissing cockroach? Be sure to attend the Bohart Museum open house during the 109th annual UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 15.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
And yes, there was. A Madagasar hissing cockroach was one of the critters that UC Davis entomology major Wade Spencer showed to guests at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house last Saturday during the 101st annual campuswide Picnic Day.
Some folks call them "hissers." That's because of the hissing sound they make when when they force air through their spiracles, or respiratory openings. Sometimes they hiss when you touch them or pick them up. Want to hear them hiss? Access George Gavin's program on the BBC website.
Madagascar hissing cockroaches can reach three inches long. They seem to favor rotting logs for their homes. They're vegetarians, so guests at the Bohart Museum don't have to worry about them as predators.
Hollywood producers can't get their fill of them.
Remember Bug (1975)?
Damnation Alley (1977)?
Men In Black (1997)?
And then there was the television series Fear Factor. (The Bohart Museum received some of the excess roaches.)
We also remember when Six Flags Great America sponsored a Halloween contest at its 2006 FrightFest and challenged people to eat a hisser. Eat 36 hissers in one minute and beat the world record. Fortunately, they rescinded the idea and the offer.
The hissers at the Bohart, though, are not for eating. They're for admiring. Some 4000 people visited the Bohart Museum last Saturday to view all the exhibits, which included a pollination display and the ongoing live "petting zoo." Although the crowd favorite is Peaches, a rose-haired tarantula, also popular are the walking sticks and hissers.
The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, houses nearly eight million insect specimens. Directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, it is open to the public from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and on special weekends.
The next weekend open house is from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, May 17. The theme? “Name That Bug! How About Bob?” Admission is free.