Oh, what a (moth) night!
Saturday, July 18 marked the beginning of National Moth Week and the Bohart Museum of Entomology obliged with an indoor and outdoor open house, its first-ever evening open house.
The event took place from 8 to 11 p.m. The crowd marveled at the moth specimens inside the museum, and then stepped outside to check the moths flying into blacklighting and mercury vapor setup.
Like a moth to a flame...
"We saw some familiar faces, but many new ones," said Tabatha Yang, public education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum, home of nearly eight million insect specimens.
It was "getaway weekend" for a mother-daughter team. They booked room reservations a Davis hotel, and did some shopping. Then it was Moth Night. "The daughter, a high school sophomore, came here for the 4-H Field Day this spring," Yang noted. Keenly interested in entomology, the teenager decided the Bohart open house "was a good reason for her to come back."
Another teenage visitor was in a Tech Trek (a STEM outreach event for junior high girls) and brought her family to the open house.
Highlights of Moth Night included:
- Entomologist and Bohart associate Jeff Smith of Rocklin demonstrating Lepitodera preparation using material that entomologist Fran Keller recently brought back from Belize.
- "Moth Man" John DeBenedictis of Davis and Bohart senior museum scientist Steve Heydon showing the crowd the moths flying into the blacklighting and mercury vapor lighting setup.
- Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas of Davis guiding guests through the moth collection
Also helping were volunteers Maia Lundy, Fran Keller, Wade Spencer, Laura Morgan, Alex Nguyen, Melissa Cruz, Joel Hernandez, James Heydon, Anita Pratap, and Maria Nansen with daughters Miriam, 15, Emma, 12, and Molly, 6. Their father is a UC Davis entomologist. The sisters helped the visitors create buttons.
The event wrapped up "the very successful 10 weekend events we hosted this past academic year," Yang noted. "Stay tuned for the 2015-2016 Bohart 0pen Huse schedule to be announced later in August."
The museum is directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
Attached Images:
Moth Night at the Bohart Museum of Entomology was the first-ever evening open house. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Moth Night crowd at the Bohart Museum of Entomology awaiting moths. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
"Moth Man" John DeBenedictis of Davis explains the backlighting system to a youngster. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis entomology student Wade Spencer (center, n black shirt) talks bugs to an enthusiastic crowd. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Entomologist Jeff Smith, a Bohart Museum associate, explains how to spread a moth's wings to Lauren Mitchell, a UC Davis student majoring in ecology, evolution and diversity. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Nansen sisters (from left) Emma, 12, Molly, 6, and Miriam, 15, of Davis display entomology buttons. They helped visitors create buttons. Their mother, Maria, is a volunteer at the Bohart, and their father, Christian, is a UC Davis entomologist. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)