UC Davis doctoral student and medical entomologist Carla-Cristina “CC” Melo Edwards of the laboratory of medical entomologist-geneticist Geoffrey Attardo of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will be discussing mosquitoes and ticks--and how she traps them--when the Bohart Museum of Entomology hosts an open house on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Edwards will be among the scientists discussing and displaying their work and fielding questions.
The open house, themed "Museum ABCs: Arthropods, Bohart and Collecting," and free and family friendly, takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. Parking is also free.
The event will be "an overview of terrestrial arthropods which encompasses everything from insects, arachnids, millipedes, isopods and centipedes," said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordination. "We will also showcase some of the trapping/catching methods we use, for example, nets, lights, pitfall traps and malaise traps."
"We also get asked a lot of questions about our own collection and why the specimens don't decay," Yang added. "We will highlight the different curation techniques from pinning, point mounting, preserving in alcohol and mounting on slides."
Edwards said she will discuss and showcase "different kinds of traps that we use for mosquitoes and ticks...Different types of mosquitoes require different types of traps!"
Her doctoral research focuses on investigating the physiological mechanisms underlying pyrethroid resistance in Aedes aegypti (the yellow fever mosquito). She was a McNair scholar at Baylor University, where she completed her undergraduate degree in cell and molecular biology in May 2021.
Luz Maria Robles, public information for the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control, says the risk of contracting West Nile virus in Sacramento and Yolo counties continues. (See map of latest West Nile virus activity in the two counties.) This year, to date, the statistics show:
Yolo County: 1 dead bird and 42 mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile virus
In addition to featuring the science of entomology, the Bohart open house will include a tribute to the late UC Davis professor Richard "Doc" Bohart (1913-2007), who founded the insect museum in 1946; served as the first director; and compiled 32 years on the UC Davis entomology faculty, Sept. 28 is his birthday anniversary and a cake to celebrate what would have been his 111th birthday will be served.
UC Davis distinguished emerita professor Lynn Kimsey, who directed the Bohart Museum for 34 years, retiring on Feb. 1, 2024, was Bohart's last graduate student. She remembers him in the audio of a newly produced video by Walter Leal, UC Davis distinguished professor of molecular and cellular biology and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology. Kimsey provides the narrative and images. Leal added excerpts from a 1996 Aggie Video production when Kimsey interviewed Bohart. (See https://youtu.be/3YqnK-CpbJE)
The Bohart Museum is the home of a global collection of eight million insect specimens. It also houses a live petting zoo (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, tarantulas and more) and an insect-themed gift shop, stocked with t-shirts, hoodies, books, posters and jewelry, among other items. Director is Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
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