Meet-n-Greet the Bugs!

It's finals week at the University of California, Davis, and what a great opportunity to take time to de-stress...with bugs!

Wade Spencer, entomology student and associate at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, says that students studying in the UC Davis LGBTQUIA Resource Center at 397 Hutchison Drive on Tuesday, March 19, will be sharing their space with bugs, including Coco McFluffin, a Chaco golden knee tarantula that makes its home in the Bohart Museum of Entomology. The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, houses a global collection of nearly eight million insect specimens--AND a live petting zoo of dozens of critters, ranging from Madagascar hissing cockroaches to stick insects to tarantulas.

Billed as the "Finals-Week Bug Meet-n-Greet De-Stressor," the event takes place from noon to 1 p.m. in partnership with LGBTQUIA and the Bohart Museum.

The visitors include Coco McFluffin, Lucy the Gooty and Captain Mar-Vel. Here's who's on tap:

• Thorny Walking Sticks: https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Aretaon
• Australian Stick Insects: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extatosoma_tiaratum
• Vietnamese Stick Insects: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medauroidea_extradentata
• Giant Cave Cockroaches: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaberus_giganteus
• Chaco Golden Knee Tarantula (Coco McFluffin): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammostola_pulchripes
• Western Black Widow (Karen): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latrodectus_hesperus
• Multi-colored Centipede (Sebastian): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scolopendra_polymorpha
• Desert Hairy Scorpion (Celeste): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrurus_arizonensis
• Asian Forest Scorpion (Scotty): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterometrus
• African Yellow-Legged Burrowing Scorpion (yet unnamed): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opistophthalmus_glabrifrons
• Sapphire Gooty Tarantula (Lucy the Gooty): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poecilotheria_metallica#Description
• And...Wade Spencer's tiny Arizona burrowing scorpion (Captain Mar-Vel): "I don't know the scientific name of her yet and can't seem to find any info online. But she's cute and tiny!"

"It should be noted," Spencer said, "that the only venomous arthropod that will be up for touching/holding will be Coco."

Study on!