A Gulf Frit Kind of Day

Potted passionflower vine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

That would be Agraulis vanillae.

Visitors to the open house saw Gulf Frit eggs, caterpillars, chrysalids and adults.

UC Davis professor Christina Cogdell, who teaches art design and history, loaned some of her Gulf Frit population, as did Bohart volunteer Greg Kareofelas and yours truly. Fortunately, museum officials collected them on a sunny Friday because the Gulf Frits would not have been flying on rainy Saturday.

The Red Barn Nursery, Davis, loaned a potted passionflower vine, which the entomologists  decorated with caterpillars. Tabatha Yang, public education coordinator and outreach coordinator, affixed a sign that read "How many caterpillars can you find?"

As one caterpillar crawled up the sign, Bohart Museum director Lynn Kimsey held up one finger, designating "One!"

As if on a cue, a caterpillar began pupating.

Butterfly expert Art Shapiro, UC Davis professor of evolution and ecology, stopped by. He had initially planned to go on a butterfly monitoring field trip, but rain dashed his plans.

All in all, it was a Gulf Frit kind of day, despite the downpour.

Seven more weekend open houses are planned throughout the 2013-2014 academic year. The next one, "Beauty and the Beetles," is set from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 23 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge building on Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. The events are free and open to the public. All ages are welcome.

The museum houses nearly eight million insect specimens, plus a "live petting zoo" and a gift shop. Noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart founded the museum in 1946.