'Xtreme Bugs' exhibit invades Lawrence Hall of Science
Updated 7:34 am, Friday, February 7, 2014
The tarantulas and scorpions, ladybugs and honeybees at UC's Lawrence Hall of Science all do what bugs are supposed to do. They buzz and clack, flutter and grind, wave their wings and swing their antennae.
But these are no garden-variety insects. They are huge - some are 15 feet high - and they are robotic, animatronics that, aside from their size, are remarkably true to life.
The Lawrence museum, high above the UC Berkeley campus, is no place for entomophobics.
But for those who fear no insect and want to learn about them from the experts, the Lawrence Hall's new "Xtreme Bugs" exhibit is probably a must-see attraction.
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The idea behind the exhibit, say scientists at Dinosaurs Unearthed, the Canadian firm that created it, is to offer new ways to understand how insects flourish in a world of rivals.
The exhibit, said Erin Jarvis, a graduate student who focuses on the genetics of crustaceans in UC Berkeley's department of integrative biology, is to offer "a chance for people to see what bugs really look like - and they do look amazing."
Colonies of real, live insects have also been brought in and safely sheltered behind glass for visitors to observe. But it may be the 20 huge and noisy operating versions that draw most of the attention.
A dragonfly, barely 3 inches from stem to stern in real life, towers 10 feet tall in an equally enlarged and otherwise authentic garden of colorful flowers and grasses.
Madagascar hissing cockroaches, the kind that kids keep as pets to listen to their subdued sounds, are also only 3 inches long in life. But at the Lawrence Hall, the giant version of the colorful roach stretches a full 15 feet long. Its hiss resonates so loudly, it sounds like a prolonged grunt.
"Each one is surprisingly accurate," he said. "I first thought those huge moving models were just going to be eye-catchers, but because they show their structures in such detail, they can help our graduate students explain their evolution and how they live to all the visitors."
The flowers and grasses of the landscapes in which each giant insect stands are also accurately enlarged, so they offer their own ecology lesson, Oboyski said.
Oboyski, Jarvis and other UC Berkeley scientists plan to be on hand from time to time at the museum to describe their own specialized entomology research.
"We'll have a regular parade of researchers coming by," Oboyski said.
For her part, Jarvis said she will talk about her research: "The evolution of nature's incredible array of specialized forms, movements and behaviors - and how the development of each is intertwined with the next."
The real-life displays include bees, cockroaches, phasmids - otherwise known as the twig-like walking sticks - plus a scorpion and a tarantula. In addition, daily life for a working colony of Argentine ants - the tiny household kind that keep exterminators employed - is on display in the museum's Backyard Zoo. They can be seen, for example, foraging for food, cleaning each other, caring for the larvae.
There are a few hundred ants in the colony now, but the number is expected to grow to thousands before the "Xtreme Bugs" exhibit closes Sept. 1.
Where: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1 Centennial Drive, Berkeley
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Through Sept. 1
Admission: Adults, $17; students, ages 7-18, and seniors, $14; children 3-6, $11; UC students and staff, $5; family pass holders, $10