Bugs at the Bohart and Briggs.
That would be the Bohart Museum of Entomology and Briggs Hall. Both buildings will be the site of many insect-related activities planned by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology at the 103rd annual campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 22.
You can BYOB (Bring Your Own Bug) and have it identified by the Bug Doctor at Briggs Hall or at the Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building.
The doctor is always in! And these insect-science docs like to be "bugged."
Do you like honey bees? Who doesn't? At Briggs Hall, you can see the queen, worker bees and drones in an observation hive. And you can sample honey. Many varietals of honey.
Like to hold insects? You can hold Madagascar hissing cockroaches and walking sticks at the Bohart Museum. Bring your camera and be sure to take a selfie!
There's also an insect scavenger hunt at Briggs, said Brendon Boudinot, chair of the department's Picnic Day Committee. Visitors will search for and identify insects in display boxes and be rewarded with stickers.
The campuswide Picnic Day gets underway at 9:30 a.m. with an opening ceremony by the grandstands on North Quad Ave., across from Wickson Hall. The parade starts at 10 a.m. from the same site. Announcement locations are at 2nd and D streets in downtown Davis; F Street in front of PDQ Fingerprinting, and 3rd and C streets in downtown Davis. The UC Davis Entomology Club, advised by forensic entomologist Bob Kimsey, will enter its popular black widow float.
The Briggs Hall activities will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., but the cockroach races will close at 2 p.m.
The list of activities at Briggs:
- Honey Tasting (You can sample varietals of honey)
- Bug Doctor (The doctor is in!)
- Cockroach Races (Pick a winner.)
- Scavenger Hunt (Do you know your insects?)
- Dr. Death (Forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey will answer your questions)
- Insect Face Painting (Get a bee, lady beetle or another insect painted on your face)
- Little Swimmers and Fly Tying (Watch and identify aquatic insects, a project from the Sharon Lawler lab, and learn "how to tie a fly" from the Fly Fishers of Davis
- Maggot Art (Dip a maggot into a water-based, non-toxic paint and create a painting suitable for framing)
- UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management (UC IPM) (See their many publications and ask questions; youngsters can receive a vial of free lady beetles, aka ladybugs. Also planned: pipevine swallowtails)
- T-shirt sales by the UC Davis Entomology Graduate Students' Association (popular t-shirts include beetles and honey bees)
- Social insects, insect forestry, medical entomology, and more
The Bohart Museum of Entomology in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building will swing open its doors from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The theme: "Bigger, Better and Buglier: Impressive Science at the Bohart." This will be an opportunity to see some of the nearly eight million specimens, visit the live petting zoo (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and taranatulas) and ask questions of the scientists.
The nematology collection will be on display in the Sciences Laboratory Building, across from Briggs.
Theme of this year's Picnic Day is "Growing Together." The schedule can be downloaded from the campus website. And yes, this event is free an open to the public.
Attached Images:
Honey bees at work in the UC Davis bee observation hive, to be displayed April 22 in Briggs Hall during the 103rd annual UC Davis Picnic Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
You can learn the ABCs of honey bees at Briggs Hall on Saturday, April 22, during the UC Davis annual Picnic Day. These bees are from a UC Davis bee observation hive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)