Buds, Butterflies and Books...

It's delightful to see a child browsing through an insect book.

And it's double delightful with twins!

Such was the case at the Vacaville Museum Guild's recent Children's Party when two-year-old twins Ford and Wyatt Devine were thumbing through "The Story of the Dogface Butterfly," a children's book written by UC Davis doctoral alumna Fran Keller, a Folsom Lake College professor and a Bohart Museum of Entomology research scientist.

The twins, along with big brother, Buck, 7, were among the youngsters fascinated by the book, which features macro images by Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas and illustrations by Laine Bauer, then a UC Davis student.

It was just one of the many attractions at the annual Children's Party, held Aug. 8 in the museum courtyard. 

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. Fourth grade students of Betty Harding and Shirley Klein, Dailey Elementary School, Fresno,   enlisted the help of State Assemblyman Kenneth L. Maddy, who authored AB 1834. On July 28, 1972, Gov. 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.)

Not many know that the butterfly's most prevalent habitat 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.)

Bohart Museum of Entomology. The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus, is the home of a global collection of eight million insect specimens; a live petting zoo (think Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and tarantulas); and an insect-themed gift shop, stocked with T-shirts, hoodies,  jewelry, collecting equipment, posters, and books. (And yes, "The Story of the Dogface Butterfly.")

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. 

Meanwhile, Bohart scientists are gearing up for their next open house, 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.