Volunteers at table displaying bee and pollinator exhibits to children — Doctoral candidate Lexie Martin of the Rachel Vannette lab interacts with guests at a Bohart Museum of Entomology open house. The Bohart Museum's fall open houses are Sunday, Sept. 20 and Saturday, Nov. 7. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Bohart Museum Sets Fall Open Houses

by Kathy Keatley Garvey
August 22, 2026

Doctoral candidate Emma Jochim of the Jason Bond lab discussing spiders at a Bohart Museum of Entomology open house. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Bohart Museum of Entomology has announced two fall open houses: the first on Sunday, Sept. 20 and the second on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Both are free and family friendly and will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane. Parking is also free on the weekends.

Sept. 20th Open House

Theme of the Sept. 20th open house: "ABC's of the Museum."

"This has been a popular theme in the past," said Tabatha Yang, the education and outreach coordinator of the Bohart Museum. "Visitors will learn the many steps it takes to buil a collection; they will learn the ins and outs of museum work." This will include collecting, rearing and pinning insects, microscopy, databasing, and journaling. Visitors can talk to the entomologists and view the research collection. The Bohart Museum houses a global collection of some eight million insect specimens.

Nov. 7th Open House

The Saturday, Nov. 7th open house is being held in conjunction with UC Davis Parent and Family Weekend. Visitors will meet the newest entomologists pursuing their doctorates or their master's and bachelor's degrees. "This overlaps with the Entomological Society of America (ESA) annual conference," Yang said, so those graduate students and undergraduates unable to attend ESA's 74th annual meeting, set Nov. 8-11 in Columbus, Ohio, "can interact with the public. and discuss therir research. They can create a public-friendly display, poster or talk about their work."

Noted entomologist Richard Bohart, a UC Davis entomology professor, founded the insect museum in 1946. The Bohart Museum also has a live petting zoo (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects, tarantulas and more) and an insect-themed gift shop.

Director of the Bohart Museum is Profess Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and executive ssociate dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES). He also serves as president of the American Arachnological Society.

For more information on the Bohart Museum, access the website or contact [email protected].