If you see a patch of California native wildflowers known as "Tidy Tips,"  look closely.

The yellow daisylike flower with white petals (Layia platyglossa) may yield a surprise visitor.

You may see an assassin.

An assassin bug.

A member of the family Reduviidae, this is a long-legged, beady-eyed beneficial insect that stalks its prey and snatches it with its forelegs, somewhat like a praying mantis. It conquers its victim with a squirt of deadly venom from its beak (the collective term for its piercing, sucking mouthparts).

Once it has immobilized its prey, the assassin sucks the bodily contents, like a milkshake slurped through a straw.

The critter below is a assassin bug from the genus, Zelus, according to  Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.

The name, Zelus, originates from Greco-Roman mythology.  Zelus, a winged enforcer, guarded the throne of Zeus.

The assassin bug, true to its name, ambushes, attacks and captures other insects, such as aphids, flies, crickets, mosquitoes, beetles, caterpillars and "sometimes a hapless bee," said Bohart senior museum scientist Steve Heydon.

One thing about the Zelus assassin bug--it does not fly very fast. In fact, it totally ignored the camera poked close to its protruding eyes.

The camera neither looked like or acted like a predator or prey.

No worries.

What has six legs and is green all over?

If you think like an entomologist, that's easy.

Walking sticks, walking leaves, mantids, crickets and grasshoppers...

The Bohart Museum of Entomology, which houses more than seven million specimens--plus a live "petting zoo"-- is gearing up for a Sunday event featuring a St. Patrick's Day theme.

The Bohart Museum, located at 1124 Academic Surge on the UC Davis campus, will be open from 1 to 5 p.m., Sunday, March 21, to focus on what's green.

No, Bohart Museum director Lynn Kimsey won’t be dressed as a leprechaun. The museum isn’t changing its name to the “O’Bohart.” There’s no pot of gold anywhere in the museum. No shamrocks or “Danny Boy,” either.

But, yes, there will “wearing o’ the green,” said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart.

Many insects are green.

“The live green ones are walking sticks and walking leaves,” she said. A new addition to the Bohart is a six-inch walking stick that’s a bright kelly green. “This is what inspired the St. Patrick’s Day connection,” Yang said.

*While the four-leaf clover is the luck symbol of St. Patrick’s Day, some cultures in Europe and Asia consider green crickets lucky," Yang said, "so we will have some crickets and grasshoppers from the collection on display.”*

“People will see that not all crickets are green or even brown, but they can be black or reddish or yellowish.”

Senior museum scientist Steve Heydon says he’ll feed the Madagascar hissing cockroaches some cabbage—no corned beef, though.

The first 50 visitors wearing green will receive a free Bohart Museum bookmark," Yang said.

The Bohart Museum recently extended its hours to include several Saturdays or Sundays. A Valentine’s Day theme, “What Is a Kissing Bug?”, highlighted the Saturday, Feb. 13 opening.

The next special events: the all-day UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday,  April 17 and then the cleverly named MOTH-er’s Day, in celebration of moths, on Saturday, May  8 from 1 to 5 p.m.

MOTH-er's Day is the day before the "real" Mother's Day on Sunday, May 9.

“The weekend openings are in response to working people and parents  who can't visit us during the week,” Yang said. The gift shop also  will be open. Visitors can purchase T-shirts, posters, stickers and  “insect candy,” among other items.

The Bohart, closed on Fridays, is open weekdays, Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m. Tours can be  arranged by contacting Yang at tabyang@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-0493 or (530)-752-9464. “Due  to limited space, groups need to call ahead and book a tour other than  on the weekend openings,” she said.

The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946 by the late Richard M. Bohart,  former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, is directed by  Lynn Kimsey, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of  Entomology.

Dedicated to teaching, research and service, the museum houses the  seventh largest insect collection in North America. The museum also  includes live insects such as Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking  sticks and walking leaves in the "petting zoo."

Let's go buggy at the Bohart!

The Bohart Museum of Entomology, which houses more than seven million insect specimens at its facility on the University of California, Davis campus, has extended its hours to include several weekends.

The first will be Saturday, Feb. 13 from 1 to 5 p.m., and the theme  focuses on Valentine's Day.

The theme? "What Is a Kissing Bug?"

The Bohart Museum, located at 1124 Academic Surge, also will be open on two other Saturdays and a Sunday. Think St. Patrick’s Day, UC Davis Picnic Day and Mother’s Day.

“The weekend openings are in response to working people and parents who can't visit us during the week,” said Tabatha Yang, the Bohart's education and outreach coordinator.

“For these events we'll be highlighting some of the animals at the Bohart which get overlooked,” Yang said. “On Feb. 13, we’ll let the kissing bugs have their 15 minutes of fame.”

On Sunday, March 21, in keeping with St. Patrick’s Day, the theme is “What Has Six Legs and Is Green All Over?” Hours are from 1 to 5 p.m.

Saturday, April 17 is the traditional UC Davis Picnic Day, when the Bohart will be open throughout the day.

Saturday, May 8 will be “Moth-ers Day,” an event focusing on moths from 1 to 5 p.m.

The Bohart is open weekdays, Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m., and is closed on Fridays. Group can arrange tours by contacting Yang at tabyang@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-0493 or (530)-752-9464. “Due to limited space, groups need to call ahead and book a tour other than on the weekend openings,” she said.

The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946 by the late Richard M. Bohart (1912-2007), a noted entomologist and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, is directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.

Dedicated to teaching, research and service, the museum houses the seventh largest insect collection in North America. The museum's "petting zoo" includes live insects such as Madagascar hissing cockroaches, tiger hissing cockroaches (also from Madagascar), mantids, and assorted walking sticks and walking leaves.

First-year graduate student Emily Bzdyk, who studies at the Bohart with major professor Lynn Kimsey, is among those intrigued by all the insects there, including the tiger hissing cockroaches (Gromphadorhina grandidieri). (Bzdyk is also a very talented artist and photographer.)

It’s a comfortable life.

Eat, sleep and mate. And then eat, sleep and mate again.

Madagascar hissing cockroaches are a popular attraction at the Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis. The museum, directed by entomologist Lynn Kimsey, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, houses more than seven million insect specimens from all over the world.

The "hissers" are part of the Bohart's go-live "petting zoo."  

They're large. They're colorful. And they communicate, in part, by hissing. 

Beetle enthusiast Fran Keller, a doctoral candidate in entomology, is not particularly fond of the roaches. Emily Bzdyk, a first-year graduate student, is. 

You can tell by the photo below. 

The hissers, native to Madagascar, can reach 2 to 3 inches in length and in nature, live on the forest floor. Read more about them on the National Geographic Web site.

The Bohart Museum, located in 1124 Academic Surge and founded in 1946 by the late Richard M. Bohart, former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, is dedicated to teaching, research and service. 

For more information on the Bohart Museum, visiting hours, and guided tours, contact education and outreach coordinator Tabatha Yang at  (530) 752-0493 or tabyang@ucdavis.edu. 

Yes, you can pet a hisser. 

Can you imagine a world without people? What  it would look like?

Check out the Life After People series airing on the History Channel. Next week the series will include the segment, "The Last Supper" and include an interview with entomologist Lynn Kimsey (right), director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.

The segment is scheduled to air Thursday, Jan. 26. She's also scheduled to appear in another segment on Feb. 2. (Check the History Channel for local listings.)

A TV crew trucked to UC Davis last October to film Kimsey, a noted authority on insects. Indeed, she's virtually surrounded by insects; the Bohart Museum contains more than seven million insect specimens.

Globally, we have about a million DESCRIBED insect species, with millions more yet to be discovered. In fact, some entomologists estimate there may be as many as 30 million undiscovered species out there.

The Life After People series "begins in the moments after people disappear," the Web site indicates. "As each day, month and year passes, the fate of a particular environment, city or theme is disclosed. Special effects, combined with interviews from top experts in the field of engineering, botany, biology, geology, and archeology provide an unforgettable visual journey through the ultimately hypothetical."

"The Last Supper" segment takes a look at the world of food. "Destructive forces turn supermarkets into breeding grounds for insects and rodents. Some foods last forever. Da Vinci's The Last Supper suffers due to an unusual paint ingredient. Some of man's agricultural staples succumb, while a surprising plant thrives. Exquisite restaurants atop of Taipei 101, the second tallest building in the world, collapse."

Foods that last forever? No doubt honey is one of them. Jars of honey found in Egyptian tombs date back 3300 years.

And the quality of the honey? Still edible.

After all those years.