UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day: Bugged!

This rose-haired tarantula at the Bohart Museum of Entomology was a popular attraction at the 2017 Biodiversity Museum Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Lots of insects and other arthropods will be among the scores of attractions.

The campuswide event, set from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and free and open to the public, will showcase 13 museums or collections, ranging from hawks to honey bees, and from dinosaur bones to dragonfly specimens. It's all about exploring the diversity of life, says committee chair Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology.

The following will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.:

• Arboretum and Public Garden, Good Life Garden, next to the Robert Mondavi Wine and Food Science Institute, 392 Old Davis Road, on campus
• Bohart Museum of Entomology, Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane
• California Raptor Center, 340 Equine Lane, off Old Davis Road
• Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, Room 1394, Academic Surge Building, Crocker Lane
• Paleontology Collection, Earth and Physical Sciences Building, 434 LaRue Road
• Phaff Yeast Culture Collection, Robert Mondavi Institute of Wine and Food Science, 392 Old Davis Road, on campus
• Viticulture and Enology Culture Collection, Robert Mondavi Institute of Wine and Food Science, 392 Old Davis Road, on campus

 The following will be open from noon to 4 p.m.:

• Anthropology Museum, 328 Young Hall and grounds
• Design Museum, 124 Cruess Hall, off California Avenue
• Botanical Conservatory, Greenhouses along Kleiber Hall Drive
• Center for Plant Diversity, Sciences Laboratory Building, off Kleiber Hall Drive
• Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, Bee Biology Road, off Hopkins Road (take West Hutchison Drive to Hopkins)
• Nematode Collection, Sciences Laboratory Building, off Kleiber Hall Drive

Back back to "bugged."

You'll see "bugs" at four sites: the Bohart Museum of Entomology, Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven,  the Nematode Collection, and at the Design Museum's special exhibition, It's Bugged: Insects' Role in Design.

Bohart Museum of Entomology
The Bohart Museum of Entomology, open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Feb. 17, is the home of a global collection of nearly 8 million insect specimens. Highlights will include the 500,000-specimen butterfly/moth collection, curated by entomologist Jeff Smith; display of praying mantises, including orchid mantises, by UC Davis entomology student Lohit Garikipati; and an insect collection display by Smith and fellow Bohart Museum associates Fran Keller and Dave Wyatt from their latest expedition to Belize. "You'll be able to see the tremendous diversity of butterflies, moths and mantids, and talk to the scientists who have just returned from there," said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator.  "There will be orchids and orchid bees connecting the Bohart Museum's work with plant biology and science." 

Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven
Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee demonstration garden next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, Bee Biology Road, will be open from noon to 4 p.m. Activities include catch-and-release bee viewing and making "Feed the Bees" seed cookies. The haven was installed in the fall of 2009. A six-foot-long bee sculpture, Miss Beehaven, by artist Donna Billick, co-founder and co-director of the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, anchors the haven.  Other art, coordinated by entomology professor Diana Ullman, co-founder and director of the Art/Science Fusion Program, and Billick, also graces the haven. Guests will see bee condos occupied by leafcutter bees and mason bees. Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, has recorded more than 80 different species of bees in the garden. Coordinator: Christine Casey, academic program management officer.

Design Museum
The Design Museum will be open from noon to 4 p.m. in Room 124 of Cruess Hall. Professor Timothy McNeil and curator Adrienne McGraw will staff the exhibit, It's Bugged: Insects' Role in Design, which explores the connections between people and insects. This is a special opening just for Biodiversity Museum Day. (The exhibit opened Jan. 8 and continues through April 22; regular hours are weekdays from noon to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m.) "It's Bugged" includes art from faculty and graduate students. It will include hornet nest paper art and beetle gallery sculptures, both the work of Ann Savageau, professor emerita, UC Davis Department of Design; insect-themed clothing; insect specimens from the Bohart Museum of Entomology and insect photos from UC Davis alumnus Alex Wild, curator of entomology at the University of Texas, Austin.  Coordinators: Timothy McNeil, professor, and Adrienne McGraw, exhibition curator.

Nematode Collection
The Nematode Collection will be open from noon to 4 p.m. in the Science Laboratory Building, central campus (off Kleiber Hall Drive). Visitors can expect to see live and preserved nematode specimens. Highlights include the huge jars of whale intestinal worms. Nematodes, also called worms, are elongated cylindrical worms parasitic in animals or plants or free-living in soil or water. They exist in almost every known environment. The many different species eat everything from bacteria and fungi to plant and animal tissue. Coordinator: Corwin Parker, nematology doctoral student.

For further information on the Biodiversity Day, access the UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day website for maps and more information, including social media links, Facebook and Twitter, @BioDivDay. There's also capsule information on the Department of Entomology and Nematology website.

Last year's Biodiversity Museum Day drew some 4000 visitors to campus. This year? Many more are expected.