Bohart Museum Open House Theme: 'Live From the Bohart!'

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

The Bohart Museum of Entomology, home of nearly eight million specimens, will “go live” at its first open house of the 2013-14 academic year on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 21.

“Live,” that is, with live insects, such as cabbage white and Gulf Fritillary butterflies, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, a rose-haired tarantula and a “Harry Potter bug,” which is an amblypygid commonly known as a whip spider or tailless whip scorpion.

Amblypygids—the name means “blunt rump” due to their lack of a flagellum or tail--use a taillike structure to hang from while molting, said senior museum scientist Steve Heydon.  They belong to the arachnids or spider family but form a separate order. They are harmless to humans. 

Another attraction is a jumping spider, which arrived at the insect museum on a rose bouquet, and has become a permanent resident, Heydon said.

The open house, set from 1 to 4 p.m., is free and open to the public. The museum, affiliated with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is located in Room 1124 of Academic Surge on Crocker Lane, formerly California Drive. The nearest intersection is LaRue Road.

Tabatha Yang, public education and outreach coordinator, said that visitors can see cabbage white cabbage butterflies(Pieris rapae) from Davis and Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae) from the backyards of Davis and Vacaville. The Gulf Fritillary population is expected to include eggs, caterpillars, chrysalids and adults and/or photos. Attendees will learn how to rear butterflies, Yang said.

The gift shop, open year around (products are also sold online), includes two new T-shirts, both the work of designer/Ph.D. student Fran Keller and Davis naturalist/Bohart volunteer Greg Kareofelas. In a touch of humor, the female pondhawk has snatched the Bohart logo and taken a bite.

The second T-shirt depicts the California state insect, the California dogface butterfly.  The gift shop also includes other clothing, posters, books, jewelry and insect nets.  Purchases and donations support the Bohart education outreach programs. Museum staff educate more than 10,000 students about insects each year thanks to the public generosity.

The Bohart Museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, is the seventh largest insect collection in North America. It is also the home of the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity. Noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007) founded the museum in 1946.

The Sept. 21 open house is one of eight weekend open houses during the 2013-2014 academic year. Other themes include “Beauty and Beetles,” “Snuggle Bugs” and “Arachnids: Awesome or Awful?”

All will be held from 1 to 4 p.m., with two exceptions. The open house on Saturday, Feb. 8 during UC Davis Biodiversity Day will be from noon to 4 p.m.  On the campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day, Saturday, April 12, the hours at the Bohart Museum are from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Bohart’s regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday.  It is closed to the public on Fridays and on major holidays. Admission is free.

The complete schedule of open houses:

Saturday, Sept. 21
Theme: "Live from the Bohart!" 
Hours: 1 to 4 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 23
Theme: "Beauty and Beetles"
Hours: 1 to 4 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 12
Theme: "Snuggle Bugs"
Hours: 1 to 4 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 8
Theme: "Biodiversity Museum Day"
Hours: Noon to 4 p.m.
This event will be held in conjunction with the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, Herbarium, Botanical Conservatory, Anthropology Collection and Geology and will take place at each of those locations.  (All are free and open to the public.)

Sunday, March 2
Theme: "Garden Heroes!"
Hours: 1 to 4 p.m.

Saturday, April 12:
Theme: “UC Davis Picnic Day: 100 Years”
Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sunday, May 4
Theme: "Moth-er's Day"
Hours: 1 to 4 p.m.

Saturday, July 26
Theme: "Arachnids: Awesome or Awful?"
Hours: 1 to 4 p.m.