New dragonfly-themed T-shirts are now available at the Bohart Museum of Entomology gift shop at UC Davis. The shirts come in brown, sea blue, and olive colors, with the dragonfly design printed in off-white ink. Adult sizes S, M, L, and XL are available, along with a variety of XXL adult shirts and options for children.
Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator at the museum, said: “The dragonflies came in! They look great.” She added that there are many shirt options for both adults and kids.
In addition to the new T-shirts, the gift shop has received brass bugs and brass bug belt buckles donated by retired faculty aquatic entomologist Al Grigarick.
Christofer Brothers, a UC Davis doctoral candidate who studies dragonflies and often presents at Bohart Museum open houses, shared insights from his interactions with visitors. “A lot of people were especially surprised to learn that dragonflies are aquatic, and many didn’t expect there to be as many species as there are–more than 6400 species of dragonflies and damselflies combined!” he said.
He continued: “One of the most common questions we got was how long dragonflies live, and people were surprised to learn that the larvae can live for up to eight years, but the adults are always less than a year, and usually only for a few weeks to months. One young visitor asked us where the antennae were on them. They are present, but they’re very reduced in dragonflies since they rely so much on their vision, so it’s hard to locate them.”
“Lastly someone asked about their eyes, and if their eyes are the biggest among insects–which they are, having up to 30,000 simple eyes within each of their compound eyes,” Brothers explained.
Dragonflies belong to the insect order Odonata. Like all insects they have three main body parts: head, thorax and abdomen. Dragonflies have nearly 360-degree vision. According to Brothers: “Dragonflies are incredibly successful predators. The adults catch prey up to 97 percent of the time.”
Brothers described two main hunting strategies used by these insects: active pursuit using speed or endurance or ambush techniques relying on stealth or surprise.
The museum also features books about dragonflies including “Dragonflies (Anisoptera) of California” by Kathy Biggs and Sandra von Arb. This book covers all 73 species found in California with photos and descriptions for both males and females as well as information on habitat preferences, distribution maps, flight periods and behaviors.
Located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building at 455 Crocker Lane on the UC Davis campus, the Bohart Museum houses over eight million specimens. Its gift shop offers various insect-themed items such as clothing, jewelry, books and collecting equipment alongside a live petting zoo featuring Madagascar hissing cockroaches among other creatures.
Jason Bond serves as director of the museum; he is also Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair of Systematics in the UC Department of Entomology and Nematology as well as executive associate dean at UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
The museum will be closed from December 22 through January 2 during winter break. For more details visit its website or contact bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
