They learned all about insects and then they ate them. And they weren't Gummi worms.

The 17 junior entomologists who attended a recent five-day workshop at the University of California, Davis, netted and identified insects on a bug safari; discovered what makes an insect an insect; and learned why some insects are beneficial and some detrimental.

A highlight: consuming critter cuisine candy, or dining on bugs that bug them.

It was all part of a educational program hosted by the R. M. Bohart Museum of Entomology and funded by a Teichert Foundation grant. Teichert paid for two children's camps in June and two teacher's workshops in July.

The "grasshopper" session, for children in the first through third grades, drew 15 from Davis, one from Orangevale and one from Sacramento. They handled Madagascar hissing cockroaches, Vietnamese walking sticks, blue death feigning beetles and Chilean rose-haired tarantulas. They studied insect senses, crafted insect soap, created maggot art, wrote in their journals, and on the last day, feasted on hamburgers and hot dogs at a "bug barbecue," complete with a cake inscribed with "Congratulations, junior entomologists."

"They had a blast," said teacher Dani DuCharme, coordinator of education and outreach at the Bohart Museum. "I think they liked really getting into every aspect of bugs, and learning something totally new-some things they had never seen before. I think they liked making insect soap and eating insect candy the most, and, of course, the 'bug' barbecue."

UC Davis entomology graduate student Rebecca Bullard explained the life cycle of a blow fly: the egg, larva (commonly known as a maggot), pupa and adult. She then showed them how to create her trademarked Maggot Art (www.maggotart.com). The youths dipped live maggots in non-toxic, water-based paint and then watched the insects weave colorful trails on white paper. Voila! Maggot art.

After creating maggot art, the youngsters delved into the world of entomophagy, or the practice of eating insects. Everyone-except for a vegetarian--sampled commercially packaged treats from HotLix, a Pismo Beach insect candy company. They snacked on ant candy; Larvets or worms, Crick-etts or crickets, and chocolate-coated insects.

"Not everyone loved them, though," DuCharme acknowledged.

In 9 to 12 years, some of them may be majoring in entomology at UC Davis.

"It's important that children and their parents learn about insects," said Bohart Museum director and entomologist Lynn Kimsey. "Ignorance and fear of insects leads to too much money spent on unnecessary insect control in the United States, exposing people to excessive amounts of pesticides. It prevents people from making informed judgments about risks caused by insects and spiders."

Both Kimsey and DuCharme said they hope the summer workshops for students and teachers will continue.

The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946 and dedicated to teaching, research and service, houses some seven million specimens in its worldwide collection. Located at 1124 Academic Surge, it has the seventh largest insect collection in North America and the second largest university collection, after Harvard.

The Bohart collection focuses on terrestrial and fresh water invertebrates and is home to the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity of California's deserts, mountains, coast and central valley.

The museum Web site is at http://bohart.ucdavis.edu