That's the theme of the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house when the scientists and associates greet visitors during the 109th annual campuswide UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 15.
The Bohart will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The location: Room 1124 of the Academic Surge building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.
The Bohart Museum, the seventh largest insect collection in North America, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens. Plus, it features a live "petting zoo" of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects (walking sticks), tarantulas and many more. You'll meet Princess Herbert, a Brazilian salmon-pink bird-eating tarantula; Peaches, a Chilean rose hair tarantula; CocoMcFluffin, aChaco golden knee tarantula; and a Vietnamese centipede named Beatrice. Research associate Brittany Kohler serves as "the zookeeper."
The Bohart Museum also provides an insect-theme gift shop, stocked with books, posters, jewelry, t-shirts, hoodies and collecting equipment.
The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946 by the late professor Richard Bohart, is directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, who received her doctorate in 1976 from UC Davis, studying with Bohart.
Entomological activities at Briggs Hall will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (See Bug Squad)
Here's a video created by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences that offers a quick look at the Bohart.