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Eliana Meyer tries a larvette.
(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) |
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DAVIS--Forget about tangerines, nuts, candy and toys as Christmas stocking stuffers or for other holiday gifts.
Think sour-cream-and-onion-flavored crickets and larvae (mealworms), and skull stress balls crawling with fake maggots.
They may not be visually pleasing, but they serve a function: get people interested in entomology, says entomologist and professor Lynn Kimsey, director of the R. M. Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis.
Flavored crickets and larvae scored well with the youngsters participating in the Bohart Museum of Entomology’s educational workshops last summer, “so we’re offering them again, this time as Christmas stocking stuffers or Hanukkah or other holiday gifts,” Kimsey said. “People have been asking to buy them for their friends and relatives.”
The Bohart Museum inventory includes three different flavors of crickets and larvae, all produced by a California insect candy company. Although the larvae and crickets are indeed real, “they taste just like what they’re flavored with,” she said. “If they’re flavored with sour cream and onions, they taste just like sour cream and onions.”
And the skull stress balls? “You squeeze them and the eyeballs pop out full of maggots,” Kimsey said.
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| Skull stress balls |
For those who appreciate a generally more acceptable entomological beauty, the Bohart Museum is offering a poster of butterflies titled “Butterflies of Central California” and butterfly magnets in a kaleidoscope of colors.
Kimsey said the offerings raise awareness on the importance of insects in the world and to raise funds for outreach programs to support educational projects. The museum is dedicated to teaching, research and public service.
“Ignorance and fear of insects leads to too much money spent on unnecessary insect control in the United States, exposing people to excessive amounts of pesticides,” said the entomology professor. “It prevents people from making informed judgments about risks caused by insects and spiders.”
One of the largest entomology museums in the world, the 60-year-old Bohart Museum houses some 7 million terrestrial and fresh water invertebrates collected globally. The museum is also home to the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity of the state’s deserts, mountains, coast and central valley.
Located at 1124 Academic Surge on the UC Davis campus, the Bohart Museum is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. throughout the year, except on university-observed holidays. For more information on the Bohart Museum and its entomological gifts, telephone (530) 752-0493 or by e-mail the museum at bmuseum@ucdavis.edu. The Web site is at http://bohart.ucdavis.edu/.
Address:
Bohart Museum of Entomology
1124 Academic Surge
One Shields Ave.
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA 95616
Butterfly magnets
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Butterfly poster |
| Bohart Museum Gift Shop. Phone: (530) 752-0493. E-mail: bmuseum@ucdavis.edu |
T-Shirts |
Price |
Beetle All You Can Be |
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Linking You to the World of Insects |
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Taking the Sting Out of Learning |
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My First Insect Collection |
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Adult sizes (medium, large, x-large) |
$15.00 |
Children's sizes (small, medium, large) |
$12.00 |
| Insect Magnets |
Price |
Dragonflies |
$3.50 each |
Butterflies, Large |
$3.50 each |
Butterflies, Small |
$1.50 each |
Ladybugs |
$1.00 each |
Ceramic squares |
$5.00 each |
| Bookmarks |
Price |
Bookmarks |
75 cents each |
| Coffee Mugs |
Price |
Coffee Mugs |
$10.00 each |
| Books |
Price |
Big Bugs |
$4.00 |
Life Cycle of a Butterfly |
$7.00 |
The Practical Entomologist |
$17.00 |
Insect Enlightenment |
$20.00 |
| Insect Snacks |
Price |
Cricketts |
$3.00 |
Larvettes |
$3.00 |
| Student Butterfly Nets |
Price |
Student Butterfly Nets |
$12.00 |
Skull Horror Stress Balls |
Price |
Skull Horror Stress Balls |
$8.00 |
| Museum Posters |
Price |
Butterflies of Central California |
$12.00 |
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