FEELING BUGGY—A Giant Spiny Walking Stick gets too friendly with Brent “The Bug Guy” Karner. The naturalist will present a program at the Friday night session of the inaugural Santa Monica Mountains Science Festival on April 16 at the Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills. At the event, Karner will turn on different types of light to attract nocturnal insects for the guests to view. The festival wil continue with hands-on activities on April 17. Photo courtesy the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County The inaugural Santa Monica Mountains Science Festival will take place from 7 to 10 p.m. Fri., April 16 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat., April 17 at Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills. The event is free.

Both days will feature handson, family-friendly activities for all ages. Each festival station will involve participants in a variety of scientific practices, from owls and bats to mountain lions and fossils.

The Friday evening program will feature events that focus on “things that fly at night.” Brent “The Bug Guy” Karner from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County will bring his insect light show that will attract moths, beetles and other insects to a viewing area using black lights and mercury vapor. Different insects respond to various types of lights, so participants will be able to examine which bugs are attracted to each light station.

Participants seeking more interaction can temporarily place one of the insects in a vial for closer inspection before releasing it back into the wild. 

The black and mercury lights often generate surprise visits from unexpected mountain creatures. In 2009, a similar program saw the arrival of a large centipede.

The public can expect to identify many of the bugs drawn to the light show, as more than 1.5 million insect species have already been described. 

“There may be many millions of species still waiting to be described, so there’s a pretty good chance that we’ll draw in something that will be new to science,” Karner said.

The festival is co-sponsored by the National Park Service and the Natural History Museum.