- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
But you will. It's a photograph titled "Painted Wings" by Regan Van Tuyl, 13 of Dixon.
UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro identified it as the ventral side of a Sara Orange-Tip (See https://butterfly.ucdavis.edu/butterfly/anthocharis/sara-sara)
“The Sara Orange-Tip is common in foothill and lower montane habitats (Coast Range/Bay Area and Sierran West slope) but is hardly ever encountered in the Central Valley,” Shapiro writes on his website, Art's Butterfly World. “It ‘flies a bea' along roadsides and streamsides in foothill woodland and montane coniferous forest, and along the bases of cliffs in canyons. It often flies in and out of dappled light and shade but is less shade-tolerant than the Gray-Veined White. In the Sierra Nevada it is rarely seen above 5000' (except at Donner Pass, where it is seen nearly every year at the West end), replaced upslope by the Stella Orange-Tip with a ‘no-man's land' around 5000' where both may be seen but neither seems to breed. In the Klamath-Trinity-Siskiyou Mountains in N.W. California, where there is no Stella, Sara goes up to 9000'--suggesting that one entity somehow excludes the other in the Sierra Nevada.”
We can't tell you awards entries won because the fair isn't open yet. On the first day of the fair, Thursday, June 15 (free admission), the hours are 4 to to 10 p.m.
The theme? "Celebrate Solano."
But if you like insects—and you should—you'll not only "Celebrate Solano" but "Celebrate Insects." You'll see a few bees and butterflies (including a morpho) in McCormack Hall, home of junior exhibits. McCormack Hall's superintendent is Sharon Payne of Roseville, (formerly of Vallejo), a past president of the Solano County 4-H Leaders' Council and a veteran 4-H leader (14 years). Her daughter, Julianna Payne Brown of Benicia, also a 4-H veteran, serves as the assistant superintendent of McCormack Hall.
In Fine Arts (senior division), check out the acrylic oil painting of Caitlin Douglas of Vallejo. It's entered under "Open Art, Plants and Animals." A portion of her painting depicts a honey bee foraging on clover. It is titled, appropriately, "Clover Honey." See more on the Solano County Fair website.
Heading the Solano County Fair Board of Directors is Valerie Williams of Vacaville, who retired last year after a 25-year career as the Solano County 4-H Program Representative, with UC Cooperative Extension.
Did we mention that this month is National Pollinators Month?
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
That's the theme of the 146th annual Dixon May Fair, the 36th District Agricultural Association.
It's been a long, cold winter and we're ready for that! So are the exhibitors and fairgoers.
When the fair opens Thursday, May 11 and continues through Sunday, May 14 at 655 S. First St., Dixon, you'll see bees, butterflies and blossoms--and much more--exhibited in Today's Youth Building (Denverton Hall) and in the Floriculture Building.
Denverton Hall superintendent Bernadette "Bernie" Jacquot of Gridley, former exhibits supervisor at the Butte County Fair, has served more than 30 years in the fair industry.
A few of the insect-related exhibits in the Today's Youth Showcase (since this is a Bug Squad blog):
- A crocheted bumble bee, the work of Faith Ford, 14, of Vacaville
- A wall hanging of a butterfly by Elizabeth Martinez, 14, of Elk Grove
- A photo of a lady beetle, aka ladybug, by Isabelle Johnson-Lopez, 11, of Fairfield
- Butterfly art hanging (diamond art) by Regan Van Tuyl, 13 of Dixon
- A photo of a butterfly titled "Painted Wings" by Regan VanTuyl, 13 of Dixon (identified by UC Davis distinguished professor Art Shapiro as the ventral side of a Sara Orange-Tip (See https://butterfly.ucdavis.edu/butterfly/anthocharis/sara-sara)
- A "bee happy" tote bag, the work of Jessie Means, 15, of Vacaville
On one wall, Connelly has created what looks like a Matilija poppy plant, complete with a six-sectioned white ceramic platter for the petals, centered with a cluster of yellow ribbons. In another area, her honey bee with widespread yellow wings is heading for a purple flower, already occupied by a golden bee.
Key information about the fair:
Thursday, May 11: 4 to 10 p.m. (Ticket sales and buildings close at 9 p.m.) No re-entry after 9 p.m.
Friday, May 12: Noon to 11 p.m. (Ticket sales and buildings close at 10 p.m.) No re-entry after 10 p.m.
Saturday, May 13: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (Ticket sales and buildings close at 10 p.m.) No re-entry after 10 p.m.
Sunday, May 14: Noon to 10 p.m. (Ticket sales and buildings close at 9 p.m.) No re-entry after 9 p.m.
SPECIAL DAYS
THRIFTY THURSDAY, May 11: $5 admission for everyone 5 years of age and older
KIDS' DAY FRIDAY, May 12: Children 12 and under free fair admission all day
GATE PRICES
Adult 13 and Over: $15
Children 5 to 12 years of age: $10
Children 4 & Under: Free fair admission
Senior Citizen Discount: 65 and over, $10
Military Discount, with an active duty card, $10
Parking: $5 per vehicle
Access the fair website for information on musical entertainment, special shows, and rules. The Dixon Fair May chief executive officer is Patricia "Pat" Conklin, a veteran fair manager with 40-plus years of management experience in the fair industry (deputy CEO of the Solano County Fair, CEO of Butte County Fair, CEO of Sonoma-Marin Fairs and then CEO of the Dixon May Fair, beginning in 2012.) She was inducted into the Western Fairs' Association Hall of Fame in 2022.
Pat grew up in Dixon and, as a member of both the 4-H and FFA programs, showed livestock in the same fair that she manages today.
/span>- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Bees, butterflies and beetles will be well represented at the 145th annual Dixon May Fair, which opens Thursday, May 5 for a four-day run (May 5-8) after a two-year hiatus.
They're among the insects depicted in photographs and other art by Solano County 4-H'ers and other youth in the Youth Building, Denverton Hall. The work includes that of Matthew Agbayani of the Vaca Valley 4-H Club, Vacaville, who entered a color photograph of a honey bee and a syrphid fly (aka flower fly or hover fly) foraging on a sunflower.
The judging is done, the ribbons are hung and the doors will open at 4 p.m. May 5.
Chief executive officer of the fair since 2012 is Patricia Conklin, a member of the Western Fairs Association Hall of Fame and a 4-H and FFA alumnus who grew up in Dixon and exhibited at the Dixon May Fair in her youth. Her daughter, Leta Myers, a marine biologist, assisted with the clerking during the recent judging. Like her mother, she, too, is a 4-H and FFA alumnus, but in Gridley, Calif., where Mom served as CEO of the Butte County Fair for 10 years.
The Dixon May Fair, the 36th District Agriculture Association, is the oldest district fair and fairgrounds in the state. It traditionally ends on Mother's Day. This year's theme is "Super Fun.”
The fairgrounds are located at 655 S. First St., Dixon. Fair hours are noon to 9 p.m. on May 5; noon to 10 p.m. on May 6; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on May 7; and noon to 10 p.m. on May 8. General admission is $15 for those 13 and older; $10 for children ages 5 to 12; and free for children 4 and under. Seniors over age 65 and military members with active duty cards will be admitted for $10. Special days include Thrifty Thursday, when general admission for those 5 and older is $5, and Kids' Day Friday, with free admission all day for children 12 and under. See Dixon May Fair website and fast facts for more information on entertainment, exhibits, livestock shows and parking.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
No doubt you've seen a praying mantis egg case, or ootheca, on a tree, shrub, fence or post.
But have you ever seen one attached to a clothespin on an outdoor clothes line?
So here we were Thursday afternoon, hanging freshly laundered dog blankets on the clothes line.
We grabbed one clothespin after another, carefully fastening Fido's favorite blankets to the line to dry in the 80-degree temperature.
One more reach....Whoa! What's that?
Can't use that one. There's a ooth on it.
A praying mantis, Stagmomantis limbata, had apparently pinned her hopes to a clothespin. Or maybe that was her PIN number?
"Too funny," commented Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology. "What a weird place to put your ooth."
Our little gravid gal must have climbed the eight-foot-high clothes pole last fall; walked the line (ala Johnny Cash?); and discovered the "perfect place" to deposit her ooth--right above a patch of Mexican sunflowers (Tithonia rotundifola) buzzing with bees and fluttering with butterflies.
"I've seen egg cases on outdoor furniture, predator guards on duck boxes, on buildings between bricks, trees, and even garden implements like pots, watering cans, and tools," said praying mantis expert Andrew Pfeifer, who now studies horticulture/landscape design at North Carolina University. "It's a Stagmomantis limbata ooth for sure; the hatch rate will be 150 or less."
Oothecas don't usually hatch until around June, but with the temperatures soaring here in Vacaville, it could happen "even within the month," Pfeifer says.
In September 2018, we watched a praying mantis deposit her ooth a few feet from that clothesline. That gal chose a redwood stake. (See photos on Bug Squad blog).
Now we wait for the nymphs to emerge...and scramble to eat one another...and prey on bees and butterflies...and the life cycle begins.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
That's the day we're encouraged to "to look for a blur of color as butterflies begin migrating across the country. Each year the celebration brings with it an awareness of the varieties of butterflies and their importance to our survival. Spring and summer are just right around the corner, so it is an excellent time to take a few minutes and learn something new about butterflies and appreciate their beauty."--National Learn About Butterflies Day.
Enter butterfly guru Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology, who has monitored butterfly populations of central California since 1972 and maintains a one-of-a-kind research website, Art's Butterfly World.
He's often interviewed on "Learn About Butterflies Day." Yesterday he granted an interview to a Sacramento television station. And back in 2020, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife interviewed him. The Los Angeles Times spotlighted him in November 2019.
The North American Butterfly Monitoring Network (NABA) website praises his work: "Art Shapiro began monitoring 10 transects in 1972 and has been conducting bi-weekly monitoring of those sites ever since. He also monitors an additional site as part of NABA's Seasonal Count Program! Art's program is the longest continually running butterfly monitoring project in the world, predating even the British Butterfly Monitoring Scheme."
Shapiro's fixed routes at ten sites range from the Sacramento River delta, through the Sacramento Valley and Sierra Nevada mountains, and to the high desert of the western Great Basin. "The sites," he says, "represent the great biological, geological, and climatological diversity of central California."
Latest statistics on his website indicate that by the end of 2006, he had logged 5476 site-visits and tallied approximately 83,000 individual records of 159 butterfly species and subspecies. Note that Shapiro does not drive a vehicle. His main mode of transportation is walking. For instance, he buses from Davis to Vacaville, and walks from the bus station up Gates Canyon Road to his monitoring site and back.
How many total miles has he walked since 1972?
Shapiro replied: "Since 1988, when all ten sites were firmly established, if an average site visit is 4 miles and I do an average of 225 site visits a year, that's 225 x 4 x 33 years=29,700 miles. Of course, if you add in the years 1972-1987, it would be substantially higher. No wonder my feet are made of leather!"
The UC Davis professor estimates he wears out three to four pairs of shoes a year. "Cheapie sneakers, though," he says.