Remember the celebrated image of George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon crossing Abbey Road in single file outside their studios in London?  

It's the cover of their final album, "Abbey Road," released Sept. 26, 1969.  

All the Beatles, except Harrison, are wearing designer suits. And all, except McCartney, are wearing shoes. He is barefoot. Reportedly his newly purchased shoes hurt his feet, so he kicked them off. 

Enter the UC Davis Entomology Graduate Student Association (EGSA) and its longtime best-selling T-shirt, "The Beetles," of four beetles crossing Abbey Road. Beneath each image is the family name:  Phengogidae, Curculionidae, Cerambycidae and Scarabaeidae. Think glowworm beetles, snout beetles, long-horned beetles and scarab beetles.

Beetles belong to the order Coleoptera, the largest of all the insect orders, constituting some 400,000 described species, or about 40 percent of all described species of insects.

If you look closely, these UC Davis beetles are all wearing clothes--maybe designer clothes designed just for them? Three are barefoot, and one, the long-horned beetle, is wearing shoes. EGSA records don't indicate who designed "The Beetles," but it's a keeper. It never fails to draw smiles.

"The Beetles" is one of the many shirts that EGSA sells as part of its fundraising projects. The T-shirts can be viewed and ordered online at https://mkt.com/UCDavisEntGrad/. 

EGSA president Mia Lippey, a doctoral student in the laboratories of UC Davis distinguished professor Jay Rosenheim and assistant professor Emily Meineke, says that currently, the designs offered are:

1. The Beetles (in black or red)
2. Entomo Gothic (a play on the American Gothic, in grey)
3. Whip Scorpion (in lavender and black)
4. Bee-Haw (in black)
5. They See Me Rollin' (dung beetles rolling a poop, in heather blue)
6. Et in Terra (dark green)
7. Entomophagy (in blue and green)

All T-shirts come in sizes from XS to XXL. 

One of the newer designs is "Bee Haw," of a honey bee disguised as a cowgirl, complete with hat and rope.  The entomophagy ("eating insects") T-shirts are also "in," as are those that whip and roll--whip scorpions and dung beetles. 

If you love The Beatles, The Beetles, and Abbey Road--or just all insects--and want to help out the entomology graduate students, insect-themed T-shirts are the way to go. Insects rule the world. A recent National Geographic article related that insects evolved 400 million years ago and today "there are about 10 quintillion on Earth...at least 850,000 known insects exist worldwide."

And most of them are beetles...

Love insects and arachnids?

Members of the Entomology Graduate Student Association (EGSA)  of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology design insect and arachnid-themed T-shirts that are all the fashion.

The critters climb, crawl, jump, roll, flutter, buzz, fly or otherwise position themselves on EGSA T-shirts.

If you've ever seen the EGSA booth at Briggs Hall during the campuswide annual UC Davis Picnic Day, you know how popular the T-shirts are.

They are hot-ticket items during the holiday season, too. They can be viewed and ordered online at https://mkt.com/UCDavisEntGrad/. 

EGSA president Mia Lippey, a doctoral student in the laboratories of UC Davis distinguished professor Jay Rosenheim and assistant professor Emily Meineke, says that currently, the designs offered are:

1. The Beetles (in black or red)
2. Entomo Gothic (a play on the American Gothic, in grey)
3. Whip Scorpion (in lavender and black)
4. Bee-Haw (in black)
5. They See Me Rollin' (dung beetles rolling a poop, in heather blue)
6. Et in Terra (dark green)
7. Entomophagy (in blue and green)

All T-shirts come in sizes from XS to XXL. 

"The Beetles" T-shirt is EGSA's all-time best seller. Instead of the English rock band John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Star crossing Abbey Road in single file (that's the iconic image on the cover of their album, Abbey Road), think of The Beetles (four insects) crossing Abbey Road in single file. Beneath the images of the beetles are their family names: Phengogidae, Curculionidae, Cerambycidae and Scarabaeidae. Think glowworm, snout, long-horned, and scarab beetles.

One of the newer designs is "Bee Haw," of a honey bee disguised as a cowgirl, complete with hat and rope.  The entomophagy ("eating insects") T-shirts are also "in," as are those that whip and roll--whip scorpions and dung beetles. 

They are also great conversation pieces! What's that design on your shirt? Where did you get it?

It had to happen.

With so many folks asking "What are those weird bugs?" and UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, director of  the Bohart Museum of Entomology, describing them as "basically Vienna sausages with bitey jaws," it definitely had to happen--a Bohart t-shirt depicting a Jerusalem cricket, aka potato bug, with that analogy.

The art is the work of UC Davis student and Bohart volunteer Allen Chew, and the design by UC Davis doctoral alumnus Professor Fran Keller of Folsom Lake College, a Bohart Museum scientist.

Professor Keller announced that she plans to stock the gift shop with this t-shirt, available in youth and adult sizes, by Friday, July 29, and later, it can be ordered from the Bohart website.  

We photographed a Jerusalem cricket in April at the Doran Beach campground, Bodega Bay. Several children on bicycles saw it first and identified it as a "big bee, a big 'un."

At least they didn't call it a "murder hornet." Or a "murder bee."

"Jerusalem crickets are among the largest insects found in western North America," Professor Kimsey writes in her Bohart Fact Sheet. "They range in size from 1-2½ inches long. In North America they are found only west of the Rocky Mountains. The large shiny brown abdomen with dark stripes, large ovoid head, and spiny hind legs are diagnostic features of these crickets. Both juvenile stages and adults are wingless and crawl slowly. These large crickets belong to the family Stenopelmatidae. The most widespread species found in California is Stenopelmatus fuscus. Even though they are essentially harmless, there is considerable mythology about the dangerous nature of these large wingless, ground dwelling insects. Much of this mythology is due to their large size, large, bald humanoid head, and massive jaws. Jerusalem crickets can bite, so some care should be taken when handling them; otherwise, despite their ferocious appearance, they are harmless. They are also not considered to be agricultural pests, as they do not cause noticeable damage to garden or crop plants."

"Although the officially recognized common name for this insect is Jerusalem Cricket, a number of other names also are used including: 'Potato Bugs', Woh-tzi-Neh ('old bald-headed man') or 'Niña de la Tierra' ('little girl of the earth'). The name 'Potato Bugs' is used because they occasionally will feed on potato tubers. Jerusalem crickets are nocturnal, coming out at night to feed. During the day, particularly in the summer months, they can be found underneath rocks, logs or boards. These crickets are to some extent scavengers, feeding on plant roots and tubers, and sometimes even on dead animal matter. Unlike most other crickets, female Jerusalem Crickets sometimes kill the males after mating. Jerusalem crickets can generate sound by rubbing the back leg against the side of the abdomen (stridulation). These large crickets are an important source of food, particularly during the winter for a number of different birds of prey including barn and burrowing owls and small hawks, like kestrels."

So what other critter names are on the "J. Cricket" t-shirt? They include Niña de la Tierra, "skull insect," and "sand cricket."

Keller says she has both youth and adult sizes, ranging from small to xxlarge. For adults, the selections are black with white ink; blue with gold ink; and rust with tan ink. The cost? $20, plus tax. For children or youths, the selected color is blue with gold ink. Cost? $17, plus tax. Proceeds benefit the educational projects of the Bohart Museum.

The Bohart, home of a global collection of 8 million insects, a live "petting zoo," and the gift shop, is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus. It is open to the public Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to noon, and from 1 to 5 p.m.

Moth Night. In keeping with National Moth Week, the Bohart Museum is planning a Moth Night open house on Saturday, July 30 from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.  The event is free and family friendly. Inside, visitors can see the global collection of moths. Outside, within a short walking distance, they can watch moths and other insects flutter into the blacklighting display, comprised of a hanging white sheet and an ultaviolet (UV) light, powered by a generator.

Also at the open house, folks are invited to bring photos or moth specimens from their house, yard or neighborhood that they would like help in identifying, said Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator. There also will be a craft activity, cookies, and "hot cocoa for anyone who needs help staying up past their bedtime," Yang quipped. The gift shop will be open.

Folks are making a bee-line to the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis, for its spring sale. All proceeds support the insect museum in its educational and outreach activities.

The gift shop is offering a selection of insect-themed T-shirts, in both adult and children's sizes, for $10, and the Bohart-produced 2019 calendars for $8.

Lynn Kimsey, director of the museum and UC Davis professor of entomology, says that "we have adult sizes in the clubtail and pondhawk dragonfly and dog-faced butterfly designs, and a variety of children's t-shirts."

The calendar?

It's a fun and innovative calendar, with art by UC Davis entomology student/artist Karissa Merritt, based on sentence collections from Kimsey's classrooms. Kimsey collects puzzling or humorous sentences ("What's that again?") written by her students.  The calendar is a project of the non-profit Bohart Museum Society.

The Bohart Museum, home of nearly eight million insect specimens, also maintains a live "petting zoo," comprised of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and tarantulas.

The Bohart, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, is open to the public Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m. (More information is available on the website or by contacting bmuseum@ucdavis.edu or  (530) 753-0493.)