- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
No, not eight unless you're a spider (arachnid).
If you're human, you can seek out the Bohart Museum of Entomology's "Got Legs?" T-shirt of a trapdoor spider.
Due to popular demand, the Bohart Museum gift shop is featuring the popular glow-in-the-dark trapdoor spider T-shirt. The spider is an Aliatypus californicusfrom the familyAntrodiaetidae, also called the family of folding trapdoor spiders.
It's the work of artist-designer Francisco Basso, a UC Davis alumnus, and entomologist-artist-designer Fran Keller, who quadruples as a professor at Folsom Lake College, a Bohart Museum scientist, a UC Davis doctoral alumna, and a lecturer of insect sciences in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
"We designed it together and Francisco did the art," Keller said.
When the T-shirt took its place on the shelves of the Bohart Museum in the fall of 2022, then director Lynn Kimsey commented: "I think it's fantastic. I haven't seen any other t-shirts featuring spiders like this."
Kimsey, now a UC Davis distinguished professor emerita, directed the Bohart Museum for 34 years, retiring on Feb. 1, 2024. (She continues as a researcher and executive director of the Bohart Museum Society and writes and publishes its quarterly newsletter.)
The trapdoor spider are the arachnids that Jason Bond, director of the Bohart Museum, studies. He's the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair in Insect Systematics, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. In June, 2022, he co-hosted the American Arachnological Society's "Eight-Legged Encounters" conference at UC Davis. The focus on spiders also included a Bohart Museum's open house, "Eight-Legged Wonders!"
So, since a spider has eight legs, does that mean that two-legged bug enthusiasts will have a total of 10 legs when they wear the "Got Legs?" T-shirt?
Seems likely, doesn't it?
You won't want to miss the Bohart Museum open house on Saturday, Nov. 2. It features spiders, dragonflies and moths.
Themed "Specialized Predators of Insects," it will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. It's free and family friendly. Parking is also free.
The event will feature presentations by UC Davis doctoral candidates Christofer Brothers, a dragonfly specialist, and Emma “Em” Jochim, a spider specialist. They will present their talks from 1 to 1:30 p.m. in the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology classroom (across the hall from the Bohart Museum) and answer questions about the predators.
Visitors will then gather in the Bohart Museum for more activities from 1:30 to 4 p.m.
“We will talk about what predators are and how we categorize them, and then discuss how arachnids, dragonflies, and damselflies fit in those descriptions," Jochim said. "There will also be some examples of unique adaptations that have evolved to help these groups predate insects. At the open house there will be live feedings every hour where we'll get to see tarantulas in action!”
Brothers and Jochim anticipate receiving their doctorates in the spring of 2026. Brothers is a member of the laboratory of Professor Stacey Combes, Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, College of Biological Sciences, and Jochim is a member of the lab of Professor Jason Bond, who serves as the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; associate dean, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences; and director of the Bohart Museum.
“I'm drawn to spiders because of the diversity of species, habitats in which they live, and variety of behaviors they exhibit,” said Jochim. “I think they're very misunderstood and love educating people on why spiders are awesome and essential to all ecosystems in which they're found.”
"I'm drawn to dragonflies and damselflies because of their unmatched prowess as predators, diversity of hunting and mating behaviors, impressive vision and flight abilities, and their cultural esteem across the world,” Brothers said.
Jeff Smith, curator of the Lepidoptera collection, and fellow Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas will be display and discuss "the cool adaptations of moths, how they have evolved to elude predators such as bats," said Tabatha Yang, the Bohart's education and outreach coordinator.
Also planned: the display and sale of carnivorous plants; free (edible) samples of crickettes (dried crickets); and the traditional family arts and crafts activity.
Inside the Bohart Museum's gift shop, the trapdoor spider T-shirts promise to be a popular item. All proceeds go to support the museum's educational programs. The cost is $22 plus tax for adult sizes and $18 plus tax for youth. The shirts were printed by Ink Monkey, a local shop.
The Bohart Museum, founded in 1946 by noted UC Davis entomologist Richard Bohart, houses a global collection of eight million insect specimens. It also features a live petting zoo (including Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas) in addition to the gift shop. More information is available on the website or by contacting bmuseum@ucdavis.edu.
