Bug Fair 2010

 

THE BUGS ARE BACK! 

 

Bug Fair — Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County’s Most Popular Weekend Event Creeps Back into Exposition Park

 

Saturday-Sunday, May 15-16, 2010

 

May 3, 2010 — The annual Bug Fair returns to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County for its 24th year, May 15-16, 2010. In addition to the Fair, the weekend marks the re-opening of the Ralph M. Parsons Insect Zoo, the renovated Museum Store featuring new bug merchandise, and the Museum’s latest community science program, the Lost Ladybug Project.

 

The Bug Fair’s expo area features more than 70 exhibitors, displaying everything from rare specimens of beetles and butterflies to entomological equipment, insect-themed books, insect toys, T-shirts, and jewelry, and even insect tattoo art.  Private collectors show off their exotic collections and "pet" insects, such as hissing cockroaches and silkworms, are sold. At interactive educational booths, visitors of all ages can handle insects and talk to Museum scientists. 

Outside, this year’s Fair activities have greatly expanded. On the South Lawn of the Museum, New Orleans Bug Chef Zack Lemann holds cooking demonstrations and passes out samples to brave visitors. His menu includes Odonate Hors d’oeuvres, Crispy Cajun Crickets, and Chocolate Chirp Cookies. Annie and the Natural Wonderband perform, and giant cockroaches, bees and butterflies appear in outdoor shows by Museum performance artists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

	A Bug Fair visitor and a millipede meet at the 2009 event. Photo by Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging.

 

 

 

 

Community Science
Launching at the Bug Fair is the Museum’s new Lost Ladybug Project, a partnership with Cornell University. The Museum has historic data from our collection of over 100 species found in Los Angeles County, but how many are still here? Have introduced species such as the seven-spotted ladybug, Coccinella septumpunctata, and the multicolored Asian ladybug, Harmonia axyridis, decreased ladybug diversity? Museum visitors and the community at large are asked to help in this effort by finding and taking photographs of ladybugs, then sending this data to the Lost Ladybug website (http://www.nhm.org/lostladybugs). This way we will be able to get a sense of which ladybugs still live here in L.A.

 

The Lost Ladybug Project joins the Spider Survey, which began in 2001, and Lost Lizards of Los Angeles (http://www.nhm.org/lostlizards) in the Museum’s growing slate of community science projects. The Spider Survey (http://www.phorid.net/spiders/spiders_index.htm) asks

Angelenos to track arachnids and its results have surprised even Museum entomologists — data revealed the brown widow, not previously known to live in Los Angeles. Lost Lizards of Los Angeles, or LLOLA, aims to solve the mystery of why there are no lizards in Exposition Park, but seemingly, throughout the rest of the city.

 

Insect Exhibits

The Ralph M. Parsons Insect Zoo opens in its new location on Bug Fair weekend. The Insect Zoo moved from the ground level and is now located on the main floor adjacent to our Fin Whale Passage. Throughout the fair, Museum staff will hold animal handling presentations and insect story times.

 

Also open during the Bug Fair is the Pavilion of Wings, a beautifully landscaped, enclosed garden in which Museum visitors can stroll and encounter more than 40 species of free-flying butterflies and moths. Special ticketed admission applies to the Pavilion of Wings: adults $3; students and seniors $2; children 5-12 $1; Museum members and children under 5 are free.

 

Bug Fair Activity Schedule

BUTTERFLIES IN YOUR STOMACH — LITERALLY
Join Cajun bug chef, Zack Lemann, on the South Lawn.  
            Saturday, May 15:       12:30 pm, 3:30 pm
            Sunday, May 16:         12:30 pm, 3:30 pm

ANNIE AND THE NATURAL WONDER BAND
Crickets and cicadas aren’t the only things singing at the Bug Fair.  Join Annie, Safari Bob, and the rest of the family-friendly band when they perform on the South Lawn.

Saturday, May 15:            11 am, 2 pm

Sunday, May 16:               11 am, 2 pm

 

INSECT ENCOUNTERS

While the dinosaurs are away, the bugs will play!  A variety of insect-themed theatrics unfold on the South Lawn as the Museum’s performance artists tell stories about metamorphosis and life as a bug.

Saturday, May 15:            10:45 am, 12 pm, 1:45 pm, 3 pm

Sunday, May 16:               10:45 am, 12 pm, 1:45 pm, 3 pm

 

TERRARIUM BUILDING 

Visit the Fin Whale Passage and learn how to make a terrarium home for your bug, with guidance from our Education staff.  The terrariums visitors make are theirs to keep. 

Saturday, May 15:            11 am to 5 pm

Sunday, May 16:               11 am to 5 pm

 

BUG PINNING

Here’s your chance to mount an insect specimen and make a data label like a real entomologist!  Head to the Fin Whale Passage, where Museum educators guide visitors through the process of pinning an insect and creating a data label.  After your bug is mounted and identified, it is yours to keep.

Saturday, May 15:            11 am to 5 pm

Sunday, May 16:               11 am to 5 pm

               

SHOPPING AT THE MUSEUM STORE

In addition to the visiting Bug Fair exhibitors, check out the remodeled Museum Store. It has tripled in size, and features insect products—in addition to jewelry, toys, books, and dinosaurs!
                Saturday-Sunday             9:30 am to 5 pm

Bug Fair Info
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is located near downtown at 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007. Bug Fair hours are the same as Museum weekend hours: 9:30 am to 5 pm. For more information, visit www.nhm.org or call (213) 763-DINO.

The expo portion of the Bug Fair is located on the first floor of the Museum. The Pavilion of Wings is located on the Museum’s South Lawn. Appearances by the bug chef and the band are outside on the South Lawn. 

Bug Fair Admission
The Bug Fair is included in the price of regular Museum admission. Adults $9; students with ID, youth (13-17) and seniors (62+) $6.50; children (5-12) $2. Museum members and children under 4, free.  Admission to the Pavilion of Wings is separate: adults $3; students and seniors $2; Museum members and children under 5 are free.

 

About the Natural History Museum

The Museum was the first dedicated museum building in Los Angeles, opening its doors in 1913. It has amassed one of the world’s most extensive and valuable collections of natural and cultural history — with more than 35 million objects, some as old as 4.5 billion years. The Natural History Family of Museums includes the NHM, the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits (Hancock Park/Mid-Wilshire), and the William S. Hart Park and Museum (Newhall, California). The Family of Museums serves more than one million families and visitors annually, and is a national leader in research, exhibitions and education.  For more information, call (213) 763-DINO or visit www.nhm.org.

 

NHM Next

Last year’s completed renovation of the Beaux-Arts 1913 Building, the original component of the NHM, has set the stage for the rollout of a series of new, permanent exhibitions leading up to the Museum’s centennial in 2013: Age of Mammals and the Haaga Family Rotunda galleries open in July 2010; Dinosaur Mysteries in July 2011; and Under the Sun, focusing on Southern California’s environmental history, in late 2012.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lauren Clark

Marketing & Communications

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90007

 

tel. 213.763.3580

fax. 213.743.4843

e. lclark@nhm.org