- (Focus Area) Environment
- Author: Elizabeth J Fichtner
Mireya Molina, a rising senior at El Diamonte High School, joined UCCE Tulare County as a 2024 summer research intern serving the nut, olive, and prune research and extension program. Mireya has a strong science background and is an active member of her high school horticulture and FFA programs. She has served as a volunteer at fundraisers for the local SPCA and at Happy Trails Riding Academy as well as at a youth science fair hosted by the Visalia Unified School District. Mireya has taken advantage of the AP and agricultural education coursework at El Diamonte High School and expresses an interest in pursuing a BS in animal science at Chico State University in fall 2025. During the summer of 2024, Mireya served as a volunteer intern in the research and extension program of Elizabeth Fichtner, UC ANR Farm Advisor, working on enumerating insects for a pest management study on walnuts. Mireya's work contributes to the understanding of the best timing for application of insect growth regulators (IGR) for management of walnut scale, specifically determining the value of dormant applications versus delayed dormant application of Centaur®, an IGR produced by Nichino America. Her work will help walnut growers gain the maximum value out of each application of the insecticide, thus reducing overall insecticide inputs for management of the pest.
![Mireya Molina, El Diamonte High School Student, serves as summer intern Mireya Molina, El Diamonte High School Student, serves as summer intern](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108260.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Yes!
That was the scene at the Vacaville Museum Guild's Annual Children's Party, held Thursday morning, Aug. 8 in the museum courtyard on Buck Avenue.
The event, open to children ages 3 and 9, drew a capacity crowd. One of the highlights was The Honey Bee, with a smile as wide as the Sacramento River.
Inside the smiling bee costume was Dr. George Stock (retired physician), who practiced in the Fairfield/Vacaville area for more more than 30 years. A native Californian, he was born and raised in San Diego.
He lives in Vacaville with his life partner, Debbie, for 40-plus years, and "two dogs that changed our lives." He describes himself as a "Sierra hiker, itinerant gardener and wine aficionado."
And now, a honey bee. "Dr. George" handed out honey sticks donated by "Queen Bee" Amelia Harris of the Z Food Specialty/The Hive, Woodland, retired director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center. He stood near a bee observation hive displayed by beekeeper Ettamarie Peterson of Petaluma, known fondly as "The Queen Bee of Sonoma County." A retired teacher, she is a past president of the Sonoma County Beekeepers' Association and is a longtime beekeeping leader with the Liberty 4-H Club.
"That was fun," Dr. George said. "I think the Mickey Mouse/Disney routine worked well. Don't say much, dance and wave your hands, pat ‘em on the head, hold still for photo ops. Thank you for this opportunity." Vacaville residents Pamela King and Diana McLaughlin co-chaired the event, themed "Fun on the Farm."
The California Master Beekeeper Program, directed by associate professor of Cooperative Extension Elina Niño, based in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, loaned the costume to the Vacaville Museum Guild for the day. The Bee has appeared at special events, including the annual California Honey Festival in Woodland.
And now at the Vacaville Museum Guild's Children's Party, where there was a doctor in the house, the courtyard and in the bee costume.
![Hear that buzz? The Honey Bee (Dr. George Stock) enters the courtyard. With him are Vacaville Museum Guild members Georganne Gebers (right) of Vacaville, and Sharon Walters of Dixon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Hear that buzz? The Honey Bee (Dr. George Stock) enters the courtyard. With him are Vacaville Museum Guild members Georganne Gebers (right) of Vacaville, and Sharon Walters of Dixon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108253.jpg)
![Children expressed excitement as they circled The Honey Bee. In the back is a cutout banner of a California dogface butterfly, the state insect, from the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Children expressed excitement as they circled The Honey Bee. In the back is a cutout banner of a California dogface butterfly, the state insect, from the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108254.jpg)
![Little Eloise Vieira loved The Honey Bee. In back is Vacaville Museum Guild member is bee assistant Sharon Walters. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Little Eloise Vieira loved The Honey Bee. In back is Vacaville Museum Guild member is bee assistant Sharon Walters. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108255.jpg)
![The Solano County Sheriff's Department, Vacaville Police Department and California Highway Patrol all participated in the Museum Guild's Children's Party. The Honey Bee took time out to pose with several of the officers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) The Solano County Sheriff's Department, Vacaville Police Department and California Highway Patrol all participated in the Museum Guild's Children's Party. The Honey Bee took time out to pose with several of the officers. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108256.jpg)
![The Honey Bee poses with The Honey Bee poses with](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108257.jpg)
![The Honey Bee gets acquainted with Stanley, a 20-year-old donkey brought to the party by Tina Currie of the Vaca Valley Grange. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) The Honey Bee gets acquainted with Stanley, a 20-year-old donkey brought to the party by Tina Currie of the Vaca Valley Grange. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108259.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
But today we're celebrating International Monarch Caterpillar Day as well, because it's the right thing to do. Now, more than ever, we need ways to help and protect monarchs.
If you have a kitty, every day is International Cat Day. Monarchs? Well, there are:
- National Start-Seeing-Monarchs Day: The first Saturday in May
- Monarch Butterfly Day: May 18
- Monarch Blitz: July 26–Aug. 4, an event to raise awareness and support monarch butterfly conservation
- National Endangered Species Day: Monarch Butterflies: Aug. 3
Our tuxedo cat, Xena the Warrior Princess (2000-2016), sported a butterfly-shaped marking on her leg, and regularly checked out the monarch butterflies that fluttered through out pollinator garden. Once I photographed her looking intently at a monarch butterfly. What are you? What are you doing? Are you okay?
Xena was just curious, just being more princess than warrior.
Felis catus and Danaus plexippus. One purrs. One flutters. One breaks our heart when it crosses the Rainbow Bridge. The other plays a vital role in the ecosystem that we're trying to protect. Monarchs boldly lift our spirits, symbolizing hope, rebirth and transformation.
![Monarch caterpillar on milkweed in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Monarch caterpillar on milkweed in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108239.jpg)
![A cat, Xena the Warrior Princess looks intently at what was once a 'cat, a monarch caterpillar. All she did was look. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) A cat, Xena the Warrior Princess looks intently at what was once a 'cat, a monarch caterpillar. All she did was look. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108240.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Did you know that California has a state insect? It does.
Is it the honey bee? No.
Is it the lady beetle (ladybug)? No.
Bumble bee? No.
It's the California dogface butterfly (Zerene eurydice), an insect found only in California.
The state Legislature designated it as the state insect in 1972. The butterfly is nicknamed "dogface" in reference to the silhouette of what resembles a poodle head on the wings of the male. The female is mostly solid yellow except for a single black spot on its upper wings.
Most people have never seen it in the wild. But if you've visited the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis, home of a global collection of 8 million insect specimens, you know that its logo is the California dogface butterfly.
And on Thursday, Aug. 8 those attending the Vacaville Museum Guild's Annual Children's Party (sold out) will see specimens from the Bohart Museum, as well as macro images of the butterfly, the work of talented Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas of Davis.
Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator of the Bohart, has donated a drawer of the specimens for visitors to see. They can also pose in a cutout of the Bohart Museum's California dogface butterfly banner. And thumb through a 35-page children's book, "The Story of the Dogface Butterfly," written by UC Davis doctoral alumna Fran Keller, a professor at Folsom Lake College and a Bohart Museum research scientist. The book includes images by Kareofelas and Keller. Laine Bauer, then a UC Davis student, contributed the illustrations.
The book, published in 2013, tells the untold story of the California dogface butterfly, and how schoolchildren became involved in convincing the State Legislature to select the colorful butterfly as the state insect. Fourth grade students of Betty Harding and Shirley Klein, Dailey Elementary School, Fresno, advocated it as the state insect. The teachers and students enlisted the help of State Assemblyman Kenneth L. Maddy, who authored AB 1834. On July 28, 1972, Governor Ronald Reagan signed the bill into law, designating the California dogface butterfly the official "State Insect of California." (Read more on how the butterfly became the state insect under the Ronald Reagan administration.)
The most prevalent habitat of the California dogface butterfly is the 40-acre Shutamul Bear River Preserve near Auburn, on a Placer Land Trust conservation site; Kareofelas serves as a docent on the Placer Land Trust tours. (See virtual tour on YouTube). The butterfly is there because its larval host plant, false indigo (Amorpha californica), is there.
Are there dogface butterflies in Vacaville? Yes. The butterfly's breeding grounds include Gates Canyon. (See UC Davis emeritus professor Art Shapiro's website.)
As mentioned, few people see the butterfly in the wild. However, its image graces a first-class U.S. stamp and California driver licenses. It's also depicted on the California State Fair monorail.
Butterfly Poster and Book. The Vacaville Museum Guild's Children's Party (see what's on tap) also will spotlight a Bohart Museum poster by Kareofelas-Keller that depicts the male and female butterfly. (Both the poster and the book are available for sale in the Bohart gift shop; net proceeds benefit the insect museum's education, outreach and research programs.)
The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, also houses a petting zoo (featuring stick insects, Madagascar hissing cockroaches and tarantulas) and a insect-themed gift shop, stocked with books, posters, t-shirts, hoodies, jewelry and collecting equipment. Director of the insect museum is Professor Jason Bond, the Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and associate dean, Agricultural Sciences, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
The Bohart is open for walk-in visitors on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 4:30 p.m. through Aug. 27. It will be closed to the public Sept. 1-22.
The next open house is set for 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 28. The theme is "Museum ABC's: Arthropods, Bohart and Collecting." All open houses are free and family friendly. Parking is also free. For more information, contact bmuseum@ucdavis.edu or access the website at https://bohart.ucdavis.edu.
Links:
- Golden Year for the California Dogface Butterfly (Bug Squad post, Feb. 4, 2022)
- Rob on the Road, KVIE, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (First aired July 7, 2017)
- Capital Public Radio Piece on Dogface Butterfly (featuring Greg Kareofelas)
- Pacific Land Trust website (PLT maintains a conservation site in Auburn that's the home of the California dogface butterfly)
![Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology, holds a drawer of California dogface butterfly specimens. The butterfly is California's state insect. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey) Tabatha Yang, education and outreach coordinator for the Bohart Museum of Entomology, holds a drawer of California dogface butterfly specimens. The butterfly is California's state insect. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108200.jpg)
![A 35-page children's book, A 35-page children's book,](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108202.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's nicknamed "the sunflower bee" for good reason.
It forages on sunflowers.
We recently spotted a longhorned bee, Svastra obliqua, also called "the sunflower bee," on Gaillardia, aka blanket flower, a member of the sunflower family, Asteracease.
Asteraceae is comprised of more than 32,000 known species of flowering plants. And Svastra? Fourteen different species occur in North America and seven in California, according to the UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab, which provides this description:
"Overall they are medium to large, with stout bodies, gray hair on their thorax, and irregular striping on their abdomen. Females can be distinguished by their scopae, which are located on their hind legs. They additionally are larger compared to males and have dark faces. Males have yellow markings on the bottom section of their faces and are typically more elongate in body size. Both male and female bees have long antennae. Svastra sp. look very similar to Melissodes without using a microscope. However, Svastra sp. will have longer antennae than both Anthophora and Diadasia so the difference is more noticeable."
Those long antennae...those eyes...those mesmerizing eyes...
You can read more about California's native bees in California Bees and Blooms: a Guide for Gardeners and Naturalists, a book authored by the University of California team of Gordon Frankie, Robbin Thorp, Rollin Coville and Barbara Ertter. All are affiliated with UC Berkeley. Thorp, who received his doctorate in entomology from UC Berkeley, was a member of the UC Davis entomology faculty for 30 years, from 1964-1994. He achieved emeritus status in 1994 but continued his research, teaching and public service until a few weeks before his death on June 7, 2019.
![Svastra obliqua, Svastra obliqua,](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/108197.jpg)