Come Jan. 1, Professor Art Shapiro will be on the hunt in his annual beer-for-a-butterfly contest, looking for the first cabbage white of the new year.

Meanwhile, communications specialist Kathy Keatley Garvey has the end of the year locked up in the Entomological Society of America's 2015 "World of Insects" wall calendar. She's the photographer behind the December image: a flame skimmer dragonfly.

Shapiro offers beer for research help

Beer is only one of the prizes in evolution and ecology professor Shapiro’s beer-for-a-butterfly contest. The other, more important prize is the data he gets for his research.

In studying biological response to climate change, he’s been recording the emergence date of the cabbage white butterfly, scientific name Pieris rapae, for the last 43 years.

It’s typically one of the first butterflies to emerge in late winter — so, every New Year’s Day, Shapiro launches his contest to see who can net the first cabbage white in Yolo, Solano or Sacramento counties. (We don’t want to scare you off, but Shapiro has lost only three times.)

Shapiro laid out the 2015 rules: “Your animal must be collected outdoors and turned in alive at the evolution and ecology department office, 2320 Storer Hall, UC Davis, with full data (exact location and date and time of collection, and your contact information, preferably email). If you collect it when the office is closed, keep it alive in a refrigerator (do not freeze!) until you can deliver it. Other species are not eligible. An evolution and ecology staff member will certify that it is alive when received and take your data. The prize is a pitcher of beer, your brand, or equivalent in cash if you do not drink or are under age.”

Since 1972, the “winning” butterflies have been netted from Jan. 1 to Feb. 22, averaging about Jan. 20 — a week or so earlier than the butterfly’s average emergence date 30 years ago.

Garvey lands image in calendar

The Entomological Society of America's calendar judging panel selected Garvey's flame skimmer dragonfly (Libellula saturata) image from among hundreds of submissions from photographers around the world.

A writer and photographer in the Department of Entomology and Nematology, Garvey captured the dragonfly image in the back yard of her home in Vacaville.

Garvey, who shoots primarily with a Nikon D800 and a 105mm macro lens, has had her photos in the spotlight before. You might remember a bee photo of hers that went viral: The bee had just stung a man’s arm — and Garvey’s image showed the bee pulling away, its abdominal tissue stretching between the sting and the bee.

The 2015 “World of Insects” calendar is available while supplies last. More information is available online, or by calling (301) 731-4535, ext. 3017.

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