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| Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology at UC Davis, with the new "warrior wasp" she discovered in Indonesia. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) |
DAVIS--“A New Year, a New Bug: How Insects Are Discovered” will set the theme on Saturday, Jan. 14 for the first open house of the year at the Bohart Museum of Entomology on the University of California, Davis.
The event, free and open to the public, is set from 1 to 4 p.m. The Bohart Museum, home of a global collection of more than seven millions specimens, is located in Room 1124 of Academic Surge, corner of California Drive and LaRue Road.
“Visitors will be able to learn how insects are discovered, described, drawn and even named,” said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator.
Scores of UC Davis scientists from the Department of Entomology have species named after them. Among them:
Bohart Museum director Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, has described some 200 new species of bees and wasps. She has a genus and tribe of wasps named after her: Kimseyella and Kimseyini.
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| Adelia thorpella (named for Robbin Thorp). Click to enlarge. © 2010 Jerry Powell, Cal Photos. |
Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology, has described and named 19 new species of bees, and another is pending from the vernal pool ecosystems. Another species that he discovered, a fairy moth, is named for him: Adela thorpella Powell (1969). Others that are named for him include a parasitoid wasp, Monodontomerus thorpi; a cuckoo wasp, Primeuchroeus thorpi; a long-horn beetle, Cortodera thorpi; and a bee, Andrena (Onagrandrena) thorpi.
Thorp also was one of several co-authors who named a nematode, Bursaphelenchus anatolius. It is so-named because the species came from Anatolia, Turkey; lead author was Robin Giblin-Davis. It is an internal phoretic associate of a sweat bee, genus Halictus, from Turkey. (Phoretic associate means when one organism transports another organism of a different species.)
The nematode was not named for me, but I was one of several coauthors who named the species with Robin Giblin-Davis as the lead author. The species was named “anatolius” since it came from Anatolia (Turkey).
Senior museum scientist Steve Heydon has described 24 new species of parasitoid wasps and has an entire genus of wasps named for him, Heydoniella.
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| Professor Phil Ward has described 50 new species of ants. |
Professor Phil Ward, a noted ant specialist, has described 80 new species of ants. He has a number of insects named for him, including a crane fly and a strange ant named Pyramica warditeras (the species name translates from the Greek to mean "Ward's monster.")
The late Richard Bohart (1913-2007), for whom the museum is named, identified more than one million mosquitoes and wasps, many displayed at Bohart Museum, a teaching, research and public service facility that he founded on campus in 1946.
Also at all the open houses, visitors can also enjoy a live “petting zoo” with such residents as Madagascar hissing cockroaches and walking sticks. A gift shop, where visitors can purchase t-shirts, sweatshirts, jewelry, insect nets and “insect candy,” is also available.
The Bohart Museum houses the seventh largest insect collection in North America, and is also the home of the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity.
The Bohart Museum launched its series of weekend openings for the fall season on Saturday, Sept. 24 with “Catch, Collect and Curate: Entomology 101.”
The remaining schedule for the 2011-2012 academic year:
Saturday, Jan. 14, 1 to 4 p.m.: “A New Year, a New Bug, How Insects Are Discovered”
Sunday, Feb. 12, 1 to 4 p.m., “Bug Lovin’”
Saturday, March 10, 1 to 4 p.m., “Hide ‘n’ Seek: Insect Camouflage”
Saturday, April 21: 10 to 3 p.m., UC Davis Picnic Day
Saturday, May 12, 1 to 4 p.m., “Pre-Moth’ers Day”
Sunday, June 3, 1 to 4 p.m., “Bug Light, Bug Bright…First Bug I See Tonight.”
Regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday. It is closed on Fridays and on major holidays. Admission is free.
More information is available on the Bohart website or by contacting Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator at tabyang@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-0493. Due to limited space, group tours will not be booked during the weekend hours.
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
