See beneficial insects and learn about the destructive Asian citrus psyllid, when the Museum of Ventura County’s Agriculture Museum in Santa Paula offers a tour of the oldest insectary in the United States on Saturday, January 21 at 10 a.m. Participants should meet at the Agricultural Museum, then walk or carpool to the nearby Associates Insectary. After the tour, they can return to the museum to enjoy the exhibits. The tour is included in the museum’s admission price, free to museum members.

Up to two million beneficial insects and mites are produced at the insectary every day, and liberated over 10,000 acres of orchards owned by the facility’s grower members in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. The Associates Insectary, located at its current site in Santa Paula since 1928, is a grower-owned cooperative raising beneficial insects and other organisms to help fight destructive pests, especially those which threaten citrus and avocado crops.

The Museum of Ventura County’s Agriculture Museum is located at 926 Railroad Avenue, Santa Paula, California, in their historic downtown, near the Depot and next to the railroad tracks. Hours are 10 a.m.– 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Admission is $4 adults, $3 seniors, $1 children 6-17, free for Museum of Ventura County members, and for children ages 5 and younger. For more information, go to www.venturamuseum.org or call (805) 525-3100.