Entomologist Corrects Museum Placard, Gets Lifetime Ban From Natural History Museum Gift Shop

Dr. Keiko Tarsus, associate professor of entomology at Ohio State University, has been issued a lifetime ban from the Midwest Natural History Museum's gift shop after what security footage shows was a 45-minute campaign to correct what she called 'taxonomic atrocities in a public educational institution.' The incident began when Dr. Tarsus, visiting the museum with her niece, noticed a display placard identifying a centipede as an insect. She produced a red pen from her bag and wrote 'MYRIAPODA, NOT INSECTA' across the label in capital letters. 'That was the first one,' said museum docent Greg Thorax. 'By the time security arrived, she had annotated 23 labels, left sticky notes on six displays, and was in the gift shop crossing out descriptions on the merchandise.' Among the corrections documented by security: a daddy longlegs labeled as a spider received the note 'OPILIONES — do better'; a butterfly mobile was annotated with 'the blue morpho is upside down and you should be embarrassed'; and a children's activity book titled 'My First Bugs' was found with the word 'ARTHROPODS' written over 'BUGS' on every page. 'She corrected a coloring book,' said gift shop manager Patty Wings. 'She stood in the children's section and corrected a coloring book with a red pen. A child was watching.' Dr. Tarsus has issued a statement noting that public institutions have 'a responsibility to taxonomic accuracy' and that 'calling a centipede an insect in a natural history museum is like calling a dolphin a fish in an aquarium.' The museum has quietly updated 19 of the 23 corrected labels. Dr. Tarsus considers this a victory.