If fair time is fun time--and it is--just add insects to make it even more fun.

Entomologists from the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, will showcase insects, both specimens and live critters, in the Floriculture Building at the 143rd annual Dixon May Fair on Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12.

Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the butterfly and moth section at the Bohart Museum, will be greeting fairgoers from 2 to 8 p.m., Friday, and displaying collections of bees and butterflies and other specimens, as well as a host of residents from the museum's live "petting zoo."

In addition, Smith plans to bring 10 display drawers that will make you exclaim "Oh, wow!"

And then there are the hissers.

"We had hissing roaches (Madagascar hissing cockroaches) and walking sticks at the Sierra College Science Day on Sunday and, of course, they are a huge hit with kids," Smith said.

Tarantulas also might make a presence.

"We have five tarantulas at the Bohart," said director Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis. They are Coco McFluffin, Peaches, Princes Herbert, Elsa the Fiesty and ChaCha."

Friday is Kids' Day at the fair when children 12 and under receive free admission all day.

Saturday, May 12

Then on Saturday, May 12, Bohart Museum associate and entomology graduate student Charlotte Herbert (of Princess Herbert fame!) will head the insect museum's tabling activity in the Floriculture Building from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  She will be joined by Bohart associate and UC Davis student Emma Cluff,  and insect enthusiast George Alberts, Herbert's fiance.

The four-day Dixon May Fair  opens Thursday, May 10 at 4 p.m. and concludes at 10 p.m. on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 13. Theme of this year's fair is "Home Grown Fun." Also known as the  36th District Agricultural Association Fair, it's located at 655 S. First St.. Hours are from 4 to 10 p.m. on Thursday; noon to 11 p.m. on Friday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday, and from noon to 10 p.m. on Sunday. 

The fair is the oldest district fair and fairgrounds in California, according to chief administrative officer Patricia Conklin. It is linked closely with  the communities of Dixon, Vacaville, Fairfield, Rio Vista, Elmira, Woodland and Davis.

The Bohart Museum is a world-renowned insect museum that houses a global collection of nearly eight million specimens. It also maintains a live “petting zoo,” featuring walking sticks, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, tarantulas and praying mantids. A gift shop, open year around, offers T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.  The Bohart Museum'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. More information on the Bohart Museum is available by contacting (530) 752-0493 or bmuseum@ucdavis.edu. The website is http://bohart.ucdavis.edu/

They came. They saw. They bugged out.

Who wouldn't, when you get an opportunity to pet a rose-haired tarantula named Snuggles, guide walking sticks "strolling" on your arm, or cradle a Madagascar hissing cockroach? Or marvel at the display of Platypsyllus castoris, an ectoparasite of beavers?

That's what awaited the 2000 visitors at the Bohart Museum of Entomology during the 104th annual UC Davis Picnic Day last Saturday, April 18.

Although the theme of the campuswide Picnic Day spanned "Where the Sun Shines," Bohart Museum officials focused on "Where the Sun Doesn't Shine."  They highlighted nocturnal insects, cave-dwelling insects, and parasites, including a beetle, Platypsyllus castoris, found on the south end of a beaver.

Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart and professor of entomology at UC Davis, kept busy answering questions about the beaver display--a pelt, and a graphic of the beetle.

As Bohart Museum associate and undergraduate entomology student Wade Spencer said: "These beetles look like they are to fleas what halibut are to other fishes. Instead of the lateral compression fleas exhibit, Platyspyllus castoris are dorso-ventrally flattened, which only adds to their alien appearance. Their unique feeding and lodging preferences have given us so many good laughs, we wanted to make them the star of this year's picnic day event at the Bohart."

"To be a tad more descriptive," Spencer said, "they call the beaver's perianal region home; they help keep the beavers clean both inside AND out by feeding on dead skin, secretions of the castor glands (where "natural" and "raspberry" flavorings come from), and if they are in the mood, they'll indulge in a little blood or fluids from oozing wounds. They're basically like crawling, itchy, toilet paper that occasionally bites and you can never scratch off!"

Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the butterfly and moth collection at the Bohart, kept busy encouraging visitors to get acquainted with Snuggles.  They held him, petted him and photographed him. Little Teddy Owens, 2 of Davis, held by his mother, Dina, high-fived Snuggles.

Another display featured scorpions: graduate student Charlotte Herbert shone a black light on them to illustrate how they glow in the dark. All scorpions fluoresce in ultraviolet light.

Visitors also learned about bees in a display featuring sweat bees,  leaf-cutting bees,  mason bees,  bumble bees, honey bees, sunflower bees, and carpenter bees, as well as Andrena and Melissodes anthophora.

The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of nearly eight million specimens. It is 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. The museum's gift shop, open year around, offers T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.

The Bohart Museum is open to the public from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. It 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.

Raise your hands! How many of you love bugs?

If you had asked that question at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house at the seventh annual Biodiversity Museum Day last Saturday at the University of California, Davis, the Yellow Shirts would have been proud.

The Yellow Shirts were the volunteers--the insect enthusiasts who share their time, dedication and expertise. 

Check out the photos and you can see and feel--and almost hear--the excitement.

• UC Davis student Danny Nguyen coaxing a walking stick to climb his arm.
• UC Davis student Diego Rivera showing Madagascar hissing cockroaches.
• UC Davis doctoral candidate Jessica Gillung encouraging questions from an inquisitive group of youngsters and adults.
• UC Davis entomology graduate Joel Hernandez displaying a walking stick or stick insect.
• UC Davis entomology student Lohit Garikipati showing his orchid praying mantis and others from his collection.
• Bohart Museum associate Noah Crockette, Sacramento City College student, discussing his collection trip to Belize, led by faculty members Fran Keller of Folsom Lake College and Dave Wyatt of Sacramento City College.
• Entomologist Jeff Smith showing the butterfly/moth collection that he curates at the Bohart.
• Professor Dave Wyatt of Sacramento City College discussing the insects he collected in Belize.

The day was still new when someone penned "holding insects" to answer the bulletin-board question, "What do you like best about the exhibits?" Many more comments followed.

The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology, is home to some 8 million insect specimens, plus a live "petting zoo" and a gift shop. It's located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane.

If you missed Biodiversity Museum Day, the next major event is the campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 21 when the Bohart Museum and other entities will greet thousands of visitors.  And it's free.

Meanwhile, the insect museum's regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays.  Admission is free. For more information, contact the bmuseum@ucdavis.edu or access the website or Facebook page.

They learned about sawtoothed grain beetles, carpet beetles and other pantry pests.

They learned about walking sticks, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, tarantulas and praying mantids--all residents of the live “petting zoo.” 

All in all, it was educational, informative and entertaining
The occasion: the open house hosted by the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 19. Themed "Uninvited Guests: Common Pests Found in the Home," the event drew folks of all ages, from toddlers to  senior citizens.

Children delighted in coloring the line drawings of sawtoothed grain beetles, silverfish, cigarette beetle and Indian meal moths, and gluing beans, peas, rice and other grains to the illustrations.

One focal point was a Cacho golden knee tarantula (Grammostola pulchripes), fondly nicknamed "Coco  McFluffin." Native to Paraguay and Argentina, the golden knee tarantula is a relative of the rose-hair tarantula (G. rosea) and G. pulchra (Brazilian black tarantula). Most Chaco golden knee tarantulas are relatively docile and easy to handle, said UC Davis entomology graduate student/Bohart employee Wade Spencer.

UC Davis graduate student Jessica Gillung kept busy showing walking sticks and Madagascar hissing cockroaches to the crowd. Newly elected Winters City Council member Jesse Loren and her husband, Brian Bellamy, delighted in a walking stick that appeared to be giving them a "high five."

Visitors were invited to bring pests for "show and tell" purposes, and that's just want they did. One Davis resident brought a container of flour speckled with sawtoothed grain beetles. Other "uninvited guests"  showcased included cockroaches, termites, flies/fruit flies, cellar spiders, earwigs and house centipedes, as well as numerous pantry pests.

Participants learned about such pantry pests as the warehouse beetle (Trogoderma variabile); sawtoothed grain beetle (Oryzaephilus surinamensis); merchant grain beetle (O. mercator); confused flour beetle (Tribolium confusum); the red flour beetle (T. castaneum); drugstore beetle (Stegobium paniceum) and the cigarette beetle (Lasioderma serricorne). The Bohart shared printouts of pantry pests from the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program.

Meanwhile, Bohart Museum associate Greg Kareofelas greeted guests in the butterfly/moth collection, showing a variety of the Lepitopderans and explaining the difference between a monarch butterfly and its mimic, the viceroy.

The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis professor of entomology, is a world-renowned insect museum that houses a global collection of nearly eight million specimens.  A gift shop, open year around, includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.

The Bohart Museum is now gearing up for its next open house, "Parasite Palooza: Botflies, Fleas and Mites, Oh My!" set from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 22  in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane. The open houses are free and open to the public. See schedule.

The Bohart Museum'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. More information on the Bohart Museum is available by contacting (530) 752-0493 or bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.