Bohart Museum hosts afternoon of insect fun
Lady beetles may be the best known, but species of beetles cover a wide spectrum. Learn about some of them Sunday at UC Davis. Kathy Morrison
Beetles are more than lady bugs — as wonderful as those spotted insect stars are. Beetles form the order Coleoptera, the largest and most diverse group of insects, with more than 250,000 described species.
This weekend, the researchers at the Bohart Museum of Entomology will show visitors a sample of the amazing beetle species that inhabit our world.
The museum on the UC Davis campus holds its first open house of 2023 this Sunday, Jan. 22, from 1 to 4 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. (Parking on Sundays is free, too.)
This is a family-friendly event, including an arts-and-crafts activity involving a drawing of a carrion beetle.
The Bohart Museum is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, on campus. It houses more than 8 million insect specimens, as well as a live petting zoo. (Ever petted a Madagascar hissing cockroach?)
UC Davis graduate student and researcher Tracie Hayes (the artist of the carrion beetle) will be a presenter Sunday, along with beetle specialist Fran Keller, biology professor at Folsom Lake College, and Cal Fire bark beetle specialist Curtis Ewing.
For more on the Bohart Museum, go to https://bohart.ucdavis.edu/
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This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
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