Me and My Maggot
"Step right up! Who wants to do maggot art?"
You'll be hearing that a lot from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, April 18 in the Briggs Hall courtyard during UC Davis Picnic Day.
Maggot Art involves two artists--the maggots and individual youths and adults. They dip a maggot into water-based, non-toxic paint and let it crawl--or be guided--to create art on paper, a conversation piece suitable for framing or for refrigerator art.
Grandma to Grandchild: "Wow! What colorful art on the refrigerator. That's incredible! Who did that?"
Grandchild: "Me and my maggot."
Everyone seems to love maggot art. In fact, at one of the Picnic Days, a child pleaded to take a maggot home.
"Um, no," a parent said.
Members of the UC Davis Entomology Graduate Student Association (EGSA) host the maggot art activity, and scores of other activities and displays, ranging from Roach Races, Bug Doctor and Creepy Crawlers to Glowing Bugs and Insect Origami. The Bohart Museum of Entomology (closed during Picnic Day) will staff activities in its pop-up tent from 1 to 4 p.m. on the Briggs Hall grounds. Faculty and their lab members participate as well. Rachel Vannette's lab is staffing the pollinator display, the Ian Grettenberger lab will focus on biocontrol, and the Geoffrey Attardo lab, wetlands restoration. (See schedule on UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology website.
How Did Maggot Art Originate?
Rebecca O'Flaherty, a former graduate student of UC Davis forensic entomologist Robert "Dr. Bob" Kimsey (now emeritus) of the Department of Entomology and Nematology, coined the educational teaching curriculum, "Maggot Art," back in 2001 when she was studying at the University of Hawaii. She was rearing blowflies for her forensic research and wanted an activity to draw the interest of elementary school students.
O'Flaherty also wanted to generate interest and respect for forensic entomology. Her Maggot Art quickly drew national interest. The CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) television show featured one of her works, “Ancient Offering,” which hung on the permanent set in Gil Grissom's office. O'Flaherty also exhibited her work at art shows, including a two-month exhibition at the Capital Athletic Club, Sacramento, in 2007.
Appreciation for All Organisms
"I love my work and being able to share my love with so many people has truly been a joy," O'Flaherty told us in a 2007 interview. "I tend to target young elementary students, second and third graders, because I find that at that age, most children are enthusiastic, uninhibited and extremely open to new ideas. They haven't developed aversions to insects, and we're able to instill in them an appreciation for and interest in all organisms, no matter how disgusting those organisms may be perceived to be."
Maggot art is now an activity hosted by annually the Department of Entomology and Nematology at Briggs Hall during the campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day.
And if you want to learn more about blow flies, forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey annually staffs a "Dr. Death" table in 122 Briggs Hall from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Picnic Day.
Committee Co-Chairs
Heading the student-faculty entomology committee this year are UC Davis Entomology Graduate Student Association (EGSA) member Grace Horne, a doctoral candidate in the lab of urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke, associate professor, and Marshall McMunn, assistant professor of teaching.The entomological activities, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., all will take place in or around Briggs Hall: in Rooms 122 and 158; in the courtyard; and on the grounds.
EGSA will be selling its student-designed T-shirts and stickers. The official EGSA Picnic Day 2026 shirt is "Product of Migration," featuring migratory insects, and "was primarily drawn" by Veronica Casey, a doctoral candidate in the nematology lab of Shahid Siddique, said EGSA treasurer Briley Mullin, a PhD student in the lab of Ian Grettenberger.