That includes parasitoids.
"Parasitoid Palooza!"
That was the theme of the open house hosted Saturday, Nov. 18 by the Bohart Museum of Entomology at its facility in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, University of California, Davis.
As Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum's education and outreach coordinator explained: "An insect parasitoid is a species whose immatures live off of an insect host, often eating it from the inside out. It is part of their life cycle and the host generally dies."
"Happy Parasitoid Day!" the lettering on the cards proclaimed, but several of the innovative youngsters decided they would mail the cards to Santa Claus at the North Pole, in case the jolly ol' gent needed to know more about them before boarding his sleigh.
Directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis professor of entomology, the Bohart Museum is the home of nearly eight million insect specimens, plus a “live” petting zoo, featuring Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, praying mantids and tarantulas. Visitors are invited to hold some of the insects and photograph them.
The museum's gift shop, open year around, includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, books, jewelry, posters, insect-collecting equipment and insect-themed candy.
Hours? The Bohart Museum is open to the public during its regular hours, from 9 a.m. to noon and from 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.
Upcoming open houses (all free and open to the public):
- Bug-Art@The Bohart on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018 from 1 to 4 p.m.
- Eight annual Biodiversity Museum Day on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018, a daylong event featuring 12 UC Davis campus museums and collections, including the Bohart Museum.
- UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 21, 2018 a daylong event
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.
Attached Images:
UC Davis doctoral candidate Jessica Gillung shows a stick insect to brothers Elliott Bren, 12 (foreground) and Liam Breen, 14. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A stick insect maneuvers toward 12-year-old Elliott Bren of Sacramento. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
An Australian walking stick munches on a eucalyptus leaf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sisters Zia Tinel, 8, and Olivia Tinel, 4, of Davis engage in the family craft activity: making pop-up cards starring monarchs and parasitoids. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Tabatha Yang, Bohart Museum education and outreach coordinator, shows dung beetles to the Huang siblings (from left) Amy, 6, Julie, 4, and Alex, 3, of Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)