- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Think bed bugs, cockroaches, carpet beetles and pantry pests, among others.
Those are some of the critters you'll learn about if you attend the Bohart Museum of Entomology's open house on urban entomology, set from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 18 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. It's free and family friendly.
Karey Windbiel-Rojas of the UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program (UC IPM)--she's the associate director for Urban and Community IPM who serves as the area urban IPM advisor for Yolo, Sacramento and Solano counties--will be there to greet visitors and answer questions, as will Bohart Museum scientists and staff.
The pests the UC IPM scientist has been dealing with lately include carpet beetles, bed bugs and pantry pests. She'll hand out two newly published Quick Tips on carpet beetles and pantry pests, as well as information on other pests. What are some of the other pests? UC IPM's Quick Tips library ("some are household insects, some are pests in the garden/landscape, and some are obviously not arthropods") is here: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/index.html.
The open house will focus on both household and garden insects, said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and professor of entomology at UC Davis. "The focus is urban entomology," she said. "We'll have out examples of all the wonderful household pests/friends and garden pests, along with the kinds of things they inspect restaurants for."
Like cockroaches, which thrive in human habitats and date back 350 millions years ago.
As an aside, Windbiel-Rojas promises to wear--or display--her cockroach costume that she wore on Halloween.
For the family arts and crafts activity, visitors will create mosaics rice in various colors. The youngsters will layer the colors in glass jars with lids. "This can serve as pretty artwork but also remind their parents to store grains in tightly sealed containers to keep pantry pests from infesting," Windbiel-Rojas said.
At a previous open house, youngsters glued dried rice and beans on insect images created by UC Davis entomology student/artist Karissa Merritt. It proved to be a popular activity.
Entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the butterfly and moth collection at the Bohart, will be among the scientists at the open house. He worked in the pesticide industry for years, training people about entomology, noted Tabatha Yang, the Bohart's education and outreach coordinator.
The open house is free and open to the public. A donation jar will be set up to help Bohart Museum specialist Brennen Dyer; he and his wife lost their home in the wildfire fueled by strong winds that destroyed most of Paradise, Butte County. Profits from the sale of items in the gift shop on Sunday are also earmarked for the Dyers. (See Bug Squad blog.)
The Bohart Museum, home of nearly eight million insect specimens, is the seventh largest insect collection in North America and houses the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of insect biodiversity. In addition, the Bohart features a live "petting zoo," comprised of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, tarantulas and praying mantids; and a year-around gift shop, which is stocked with T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.
Other public weekend hours for the academic year 2018-2019 are:
- Saturday, Jan. 12, from 1 to 4 p.m.: "Time's Fun When You're Studying Flies"
- Saturday, Feb. 16, times vary: (campuswide) Biodiversity Museum Day
- Saturday, March 9, 1 to 4 p.m., "Eight-Legged Wonders"
- Saturday, April 14, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., (campuswide) UC Davis Picnic Day
The Bohart Museum's regular hours are 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 on the website at http://bohart.ucdavis.edu or by contacting (530) 752-0493 or emailing bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
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."
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.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The family friendly event, free and open to the public, will take place in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.
Folks are encouraged to bring in pests they find in the home, including cockroaches, carpet beetles, termites, flies/fruit flies, cellar spiders, earwigs, house centipedes and pantry pests. Entomologists will identify the pests and explain more about them.
All pests are "fair game" except for parasites. Those come later: on Jan. 22, the Bohart Museum is planning an open house themed “Parasite Palooza: Botflies, Fleas and Mites, Oh My!”
At the Nov. 19th open house, the Bohart will showcase live insects, including Indian meal moths, clothes moths, and earwigs, as well as specimens.
For the arts and crafts activity, UC Davis senior entomology major Karissa Merritt has drawn a sawtoothed grain beetle and cigarette beetle and other pests, for children to color and/or adorn with grains of rice and other materials.
The open house will feature a number of stuffed animals in its gift shop, including lice, ants, tardigrades, bed bugs and mosquitoes. A zippered monarch butterfly, illustrating caterpillar, chrysalis and adult stages, is another new addition. Also new: handmade insect collection boxes by Bohart Museum associate and entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the butterfly and moth collection.
One of the most unique gifts: With a donation to the Bohart BioLegacy Program, donors can name a newly discovered and described insect after a loved one.
The gift shop, open year around, is filled with T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy. Among the books:
- California Bees and Blooms and Bumble Bees of North America, both co-authored by Robbin Thorp, UC Davis distinguished emeritus professor of entomology and a Bohart assocaiate
- Story of the Dogface Butterfly by Bohart associates: entomologist Fran Keller, naturalist and photographer Greg Kareofelas and artist Laine Bauer. The dogface butterfly is the state insect.
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. It also maintains a live “petting zoo,” featuring walking sticks, Madagascar hissing cockroaches and tarantulas. The 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.
