If you like bugs and live in Northern California, you're in luck.

The newly formed California Bug Club has scheduled its first meeting for 6 p.m., Satuday, Jan. 12 in the Elk Grove Library's meeting room, 8900 Elk Grove Blvd.

First speaker is entomologist Jeff Smith, an associate at the Bohart Museum of Entomology on the University of California, Davis, campus.  He'll speak on "Amazing Insect Lives," focusing on "the Many great mechanisms insects have for survival," says club spokesperson/founder Edgar Ortega.

Ortega is also inviting folks to bring and display their collections.

The club is open to "all bug lovers of Northern California--insect hobbyists, collectors, tarantula enthusiasts and invertebrate keepers," says Ortego, who is also founder/president of the Central Valley Herpetological Society.

Plans call for the California Bug Club to meet every other month with informative presentations from professionals in their fields. These will include entomologists, arachnologists, expert hobbyist, breeders and others.

This promises to be a very active club. As Ortega says on the Bug Club's website: 

"Want to join us for a night of blacklighting for insects? Care to participate in our exploration hikes, surveys, and tarantula hunts? Want to learn how to properly preserve and mount specimens? Do you have questions for the experts? Want to identify a bug, start an insect collection, learn to care for certain species, or just want to explore your curiosity about the natural world? California Bug Club offers each of these things and more."

You can also "like" the club's Facebook page.

And we love the little praying mantis perched atop the club logo, the work of graphic artist Rachel Edler.

Bug lovers, unite!