But isn't every day a good day for bugs?
The Bohart Museum of Entomology on the University of California, Davis, campus, proved to be a good focal point last Sunday during the fourth annual UC Davis Biodiversity Museum Day. It was one of six museums being showcased.
Entomology students Christine Melvin and Stephanie Wu and native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology, were among those greeting the visitors: Melvin showed a rose-haired tarantula; Wu, walking sticks; and Thorp, Valley carpenter bees.
As you can guess, not not all the critters in the insect museum are insects. Some are arachnids (spider family).
The museum, directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, houses nearly eight million insect specimens, but it also has a live "petting zoo," where youngsters young and old and bug enthusiasts new and old can cradle the bugs.
And, of course, what would it be like without taking a photo?
For the second consecutive year, Mother Nature provided a little rain for the day. It didn't seem to bother anyone. The resounding chorus was "We Need the Rain."
The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge building on Crocker Lane, is open to the public Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to noon, and from noon 5 to p.m. Admission is free. Further information is available from the Bohart Museum at (530) 752-0493 or at bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
Attached Images:
This tarantula was popular at the Bohart Museum on Biodiversity Museum Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Entomology student Stephanie Wu holds walking sticks. These are Those are thorny stick insects, Aretaon asperrimus, from Borneo. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
These are male Valley carpenter bees, shown here by native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, distinguished emeritus professor of entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A collection of moths at the Bohart Museum. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)