If you're looking for the perfect "bugly" entomological gift, be sure to stop by the Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis.

The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane,  is open to the public Mondays through Thursdays except on holidays. It will be closed Dec. 21 through Jan. 6.

It's directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis.

Here are some of the ways you can think entomological!

• Donate to the Bohart Museum Society.  Thanks to public support last year, "we have created internships for high school students, expanding our K-12 outreach programs, incorporated newly donated collections of beetles and butterflies and have two awesome imaging systems that have made it possible for us to provide Bohart Museum scientists and visiting researchers with high quality images of insects in our collections," related Kimsey. "We have big plans for the coming year and your continue support will make it possible for us to add a second session to our summer camp for junior high students, train undergraduate and graduate students in entomology and educational outreach, continue to improve our website, and educate the public about insects, spiders and their relatives."
  
  Bohart Museum membership categories include individual ($25), student ($15), student families ($25), family ($40), patron ($100) and additional donations. Checks can be made out to the Bohart Museum Society, c/o Bohart Museum of Entomology, Room 1124 Academic Surge Building, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616. There's also a museum BioLegacy sponsorship ($2000 and up) that enables you to name an insect after yourself or a loved one.
  
  
  

  Entomologist Fran Keller, former graduate student at UC Davis and now an assistant professor at Folsom Lake College, with her book, "The Story of the Dogface Butterfly." Photographer Greg Kareofelas and artist Laine Bauer illustrated it. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
  Calendars. For donations of $50 or more, the Bohart will provide you with its 2019 calendar illustrated by entomology student/artist Karissa Merritt and featuring her humorous interpretations of actual sentences from term papers in Professor Kimsey's classes. Example, regarding mayflies: "The swarmers are attracted to lights and tend to expose themselves in the evenings.” (See illustration below.) It also acknowledges the birthdates of famous entomologists.  The calendar is  available separately for $12, plus tax.
  
  
• Peruse the Bohart Museum gift shop, which includes insect-themed t-shirts and sweatshirts, graced with everything from monarch butterflies to Hercules beetles to lady beetles (ladybugs) and dragonflies. You'll also find in the gift shop: insect-themed books, jewelry, posters and candy, plus insect-collecting equipment.
  
  Books in the gift shop include The Story of the Dogface Butterfly, a 35-page children's book authored by Fran Keller, former doctoral student at the Bohart Museum, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and  now assistant professor at Folsom Lake College. It includes illustrations by  former UC Davis student Laine Bauer and photographs by Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas and Keller. The California dogface butterfly is the state insect.
  
  Plush toys in the gift shop include tardigrades (much in demand), bedbugs and flies.
  
  Posters include the California dogface butterfly, the work of Bohart associates Fran Keller and Greg Kareofelas.
  
  Butterfly habitats, zippered and netted, are perfect for rearing monarchs, Gulf Fritillaries and other butterflies.

In addition, the Bohart Museum is a good place to see, photograph and hold many of the occupants in its live "petting zoo," which includes Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks, tarantulas, and praying mantids.

The Bohart Museum's regular hours are from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. It is closed to the public on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and on major holidays. Admission is free.  For more information, access the website or Facebook page or email bmuseum@ucdavis.edu or telephone (530) 753-0493.

It's the "in" thing.

Insects--their beauty, their structure, their diversity--are inspiring noted fashion designers, but those fashion designers are way, way behind the UC Davis Entomology Graduate Students' Association (EGSA).

EGSA members are graduate student totally into bugs. They study them, research them and wear them. And yes, some do eat them. Can you say "chocolate chirp cookies? (made with cricket flour)?"

Every year EGSA conducts a t-shirt contest and the faculty, staff and students pick the winner.  The good news is that the t-shirts--past and present--are for sale all year around, but folks take a special interest in them during the holiday season. Stocking stuffers!

The Beatles?  Think The Beetles.

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.

If you're not partial to beetles, how about honey bees, wasps, and "Entomology's Most Wanted?"

You're in luck.

"This year we are discounting some of our old designs from $15 to $10!" announced the officers, headed by Ph.D student and ant specialist Brendon Boudinot of the Phil Ward lab. "Order by Dec. 15th for delivery within the United States by the 23rd. If you are on campus and would like to pick up the shirt instead, please do not pay for shipping online and email Emily Bick at enbick@ucdavis.edu (of the Christian Nansen lab) to schedule pick up. The online store will close on Dec. 17th until early January." The prices range from $10 to $15 to $17. Access their online store: https://mkt.com/UCDavisEntGrad/

It's for a good cause: helping the graduate students. The added bonus, you get to "bug" your friends, family and colleagues when you wear these t-shirts. 

So you're in a quandary. You have no idea what to get the nature lovers/insect enthusiasts on your holiday gift-giving list.

It's buggin' ya.

No worries. The UC Davis Entomology Graduate Students' Association (EGSA) to the rescue. Every year EGSA conducts a t-shirt contest and the faculty, staff and students pick the winner.  The t-shirts--past, present, and most popular--are for sale, with proceeds going to support the many activities of EGSA.

For the last two years,  Stacey Rice, a junior specialist in the lab of Extension entomologist Larry Godfrey of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty, has won. This year her stag beetle design scored first. Last year it was her depiction of a wasp riding a penny-farthing or high-wheel bicycle.

Her newest winner not only incorporates her love for stag beetles (family Lucanidae) but illustrates the “geometric patterns that are hidden in the deciduous forests they dwell in,” said Rice, who as a scientist and artist, enjoys fusing science with art. "I'm captivated by insects' structural biology, ability to evolve over time and the intricate ways in which they communicate."

EGSA treasurer and graduate student Cindy Preto of the Frank Zalom lab is coordinating the t-shirt sales. The themes include honey bees,  beetles, a wasp, a moth, weevils (“See No Weevil, Hear No Weevil and Speak No Weevil")  and “Entomology's Most Wanted” (malaria mosquito, red-imported fire ant, bed bug and house fly).  One of the best sellers is “The Beetles,” mimicking The Beatles' album cover, “Abbey Road.” 

EGSA, Preto said, is "run by and for graduate students who study insect systems. Our objectives are to connect students from across disciplines, inform students of and provide opportunities for academic success, and to serve as a bridge between the students and administration. We also plan social and academic events for students, faculty, and staff to enhance social and intellectual cohesion and to connect our department with the community at large."

For more details, just access https://mkt.com/UCDavisEntGrad or email Preto at crpreto@ucdavis.edu.