Let’s face it – we all like to do a little personal advertising on behalf of our favorite past-times through the medium of t-shirts. Whether they depict the logo of a favorite sports team, activity, political cause, automobile brand, beverage, or vacation spot, the act of proclaiming to everyone you meet something about yourself that might not otherwise arise in the course of conversation has risen to the level of a social norm. Natural history buffs, as socially abnormal as we can occasionally be, are in this case some of the most ardent adherents of this norm.
In my own case, two drawers in our home are full of t-shirts bearing the images of birding festival logos, favorite moths, organizational gathering commemorations, and conservation society crests. My wife has put me on a near moratorium regarding more being acquired. However in the case of a recent development, one more might need to be added – the University of California, Davis, Bohart Museum of Entomology’s new White-belted Ringtail t-shirt.
Bearing the image of William Yuen’s drawing of Greg Kareofelas’ photographic image of a White-belted Ringtail dragonfly, Erpetogomphus compositus, this new t-shirt from Bohart would make the perfect gift not only for entomologists both professional and amateur, but just as well for any nature enthusiast in your life. Plus, with your purchase of this t-shirt, you are also giving a gift to the museum itself by helping to support their work in furthering the human world’s understanding of the insect one.
Peace and good bird watching.
