A poster by naturalist Greg Kareofelas and entomologist Fran Keller shows the male California dogface butterfly (top) and the female.

You may know that the California grizzly bear (Ursus californicus) is the official state animal.

You may know that the California quail (Lophortyx californica) is the official state bird.

You may know that the California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii) is the official state amphibian.

And you may know that the golden trout (Salmo agua-bonita) is the official state fish.

But...drum roll...did you know that California has an official state insect? No, it's not a lady beetle or ladybug. Or a honey bee. Or a monarch.

It's the California dogface butterfly (Zerene eurydice), which the state Legislature designated as the state insect 50 years ago--in 1972. The butterfly is found only in California from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada to the Coast Ranges and from Sonoma south to San Diego. The male, which sports a yellow silhouette of a dog's head on its wings, is known as "the flying pansy." The female is mostly solid yellow except for a single black spot on its upper wings.

The Bohart Museum of Entomology, located in the Academic Surge Building on Crocker Lane, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the butterfly's designation as the state insect during the 108th annual UC Davis Picnic Day on Saturday, April 23. See the Bohart exhibits at the East Academic Surge entrance from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

Entomologist Fran Keller, a professor at Folsom Lake College, a Bohart Museum scientist, and UC Davis doctoral alumnus, will be there with Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas to share their expertise on the butterfly.  Kareofelas is a volunteer tour guide for the Placer Land Trust's conservation site in Auburn. It's the most prevalent habitat of the butterfly; it is there because its larval host plant, false indigo (Amorpha californica) thrives there. 

Kareofelas has reared--and photographed--a dogface butterfly from egg to adult. And he's also grown false indigo. 

Keller authored a 35-page children's book, "The Story of the Dogface Butterfly," with images by Kareofelas and Keller and illustrations by then UC Davis student Laine Bauer. The book 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.

A Bohart Museum poster by Kareofelas-Keller depicts the male and female butterfly. Both the poster and the book are available for sale in the Bohart gift shop (also online). Net proceeds benefit the insect museum's education, outreach and research programs.

In addition to the California dogface butterfly, the Bohart Museum's Picnic Day activities will focus on monarch butterflies; the traveling display exhibits that graduate students created; and the ever-popular live "petting zoo," comprised of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas.

Home of worldwide collection of eight million insect specimens, the Bohart Museum is directed by Lynn Kimsey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology. The staff includes senior museum scientist Steve Heydon; education and outreach coordinator Tabatha Yang, and entomologist Jeff Smith, who curates the lepidoptera collection. 

Other entomological displays and activities during Picnic Day will take place at Briggs Hall from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. A new addition at Briggs is caterpillar biology. Grace Horne, a graduate student in the laboratory of Emily Meineke, assistant professor of urban landscape entomology, will display hornworm caterpillars and pupae, and she'll discuss butterfly and moth biodiversity and biology, including urban biodiversity and their interactions with their host plants.

Links:

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)