By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Butterflies, spiders, dragonflies, Richard "Doc" Bohart and a radioactive-longhorned beetle.
Those were some of the "attendees" at the annual Bohart Museum Society's Halloween party, held in the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
Greeting the guests were Jason Bond, director of the Bohart Museum, and the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences; and Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor emerita who retired Feb. 1 as the 34-year director of the Bohart Museum. She continues to serve as the executive director of the Bohart Museum Society and as editor of the society's quarterly newsletter.
Forensic entomologist Robert "Bob" Kimsey, who retired from the faculty in June, wore his traditional ghilli. He served beverages throughout the evening.
Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum's education and outreach coordinator, came dressed as noted entomologist Richard Mitchell Bohart (1913-2007), who founded the insect museum in 1946 that bears his name. She wore a white lab coat with a "Doc" Bohart name-tag, and held a replica of Beau (his legendary cat). Bohart, who joined the UC Davis faculty in 1946, chaired the Department of Entomology from 1956 to 1965. He taught general entomology, medical entomology, systematics, and agricultural entomology.
Bohart research entomologist Tom Zavortink arrived in his traditional Bernie Sanders' outfit (suit and tie). Doctoral candidate Christofer Brothers chose a dragonfly costume, the insect he studies. UC Davis alumnus and artist Francisco Basso, a furry spider costume.
Many came as themselves, including:
- Medical entomologist-geneticist Geoffrey Attardo, associate professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
- Brennen Dyer, Bohart collections manager
- Research associate Sandy Shanks
- Research associate John "Moth Man" De Benedictus
- Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas
The Bohart Museum of Entomology, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens, along with a live petting zoo and a insect-themed gift shop.
