What's that spider?
A common question on the Internet.
Bring your image of a spider and ask the arachnid specialista at the Bohart Museum of Entomology open house, set from 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, March 15 in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus.
The event, free and family friendly, is themed "Eight-Legged Encounters." As any arachnologist will tell you, adult arachnids have eight legs attached to the cephalothorax. Adult insects have six legs (three pairs), which are attached to their thorax. These legs are a defining characteristic that distinguishes them from other arthropods like spiders (eight legs) or centipedes.
Open house visitors will see scorpions, tarantulas, vinegaroons, whip spiders and trapdoor spiders. They'll learn how spiders spin silk, they'll watch arachnids being fed, and they can look through microscopes. And they can craft arachnids using model clay, said the two co-chairs, doctoral candidate Emma "Em" Jochim of the Jason Bond lab and Felix Duley, a UC Davis entomology alumnus who is an intern at the Bohart Museum. The petting zoo, featuring Madagascar hissing cockroaches and stick insects, also will be open.
Director of the Bohart Museum is Professor Jason Bond, who wears a number of hats. He is the Evert and Marion Schindler Endowed Chair of Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; the executive associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences; and the president of the American Arachnological Association (AAS). The AAS website is a great place to learn about spiders--and to ask questions.
The Bohart Museum offers several fact sheets on its website about spiders: Sac spiders, wolf spiders, cellar spiders, recluse spiders/brown recluse, widows and jumping spiders. The Bohart also provides information on spider bites.
The Bohart Museum is the home of eight million specimens, plus a live petting zoo and a insect-themed gift shop. More information on the Bohart Museum is available on its website or by contacting bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
Cover image: A jumping spider eyes the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)