Bohart Museum of Entomology

Bohart Museum of Entomology

Established	1946
Visitors	12000
Director	Lynn Kimsey
Curator	Steve Heydon
Website	http://bohart.ucdavis.edu/index.html

Bohart Museum of Entomology Entrance

The Bohart Museum of Entomology was founded in 1946 on the campus of the University of California, Davis. The museum is currently the seventh largest insect collection in North America with more than seven million specimens of terrestrial and freshwater arthropods. At least 90% of these holdings are insects. The collection is worldwide in scope with the Western Hemisphere, Indonesia, and Australasia particularly well represented.

Role

The principal roles of the museum are to support research at the graduate and undergraduate levels, informatics and diagnostics, and educational outreach. Areas of taxonomic specialization include the worldwide insect order Hymenoptera, freshwater non-insect arthropods, and California insect fauna. Professor Emeritus of entomology Richard M. Bohart was the museum's founder and principal contributor. In 1986 the museum was named in his honor.

The museum is closely tied to the Entomology Department at UC Davis and provides research support for the department. This role is particularly important for the faculty of biological control and medical entomology groups. The museum also houses teaching insect collections for undergraduate level entomology courses taught on campus.

Specimen collection

Each year an average of 30,000 newly acquired specimens are added to the collection. These specimens come from museum based field studies, university faculty, and student research programs. There is also a considerable number of specimens donated to the museum from the members of the Bohart Museum Society and the external community. 7,400 specimens from the museum are estimated to be on loan each year to domestic and international researchers. Local, national, and international researchers use the museum's collection materials in at least 18 publications per year in addition to the high publication activity of the university staff and associates.

An average of 12,000 visitors come to the Bohart Museum each year.

Visitor Information

Bohart Museum staff member displays drawer containing Attacus atlas moths

The Bohart Museum of Entomology welcomes visitors, Monday through Thursday. The Bohart Museum occasionally hosts weekend activities and events, more information is available on the museum's website. Researchers are asked to call ahead so that the museum can better fit their needs. Likewise, large groups (e.g. school trips, Boy Scout troops) are asked to call ahead so that their visitation does not clash with other groups or visitors.