A lepidopterist and a herpetologist walk into a bar. 

 A cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, goes, too.

That's exactly what happened on Wednesday, Feb. 4, when the co-winners of the 2026 Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest celebrated with beer and conversation at a Davis bar.

Suds for a bug? A bug for some suds?

The annual “Beer for a Butterfly” contest, launched in 1972 by butterfly guru Art Shapiro, now a UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus, gets underway Jan. 1.

The first person to collect the first live cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, of the year in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano--and is declared the winner---will receive a pitcher of beer or its equivalent.

UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus Art Shapiro has done it again.

He won the 2025 Beer-for-a-Butterfly Contest, a scientific research project he’s sponsored since 1972 to seek the first cabbage white butterfly of the year in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano. 

The person who collects the first live butterfly, Pieris rapae,  and is judged the winner, receives a pitcher of beer or its equivalent.

Shapiro will be drinking his own beer.

Suds for a bug?

The annual “Beer for a Butterfly” contest, launched in 1972 by butterfly guru Art Shapiro, now a UC Davis distinguished professor emeritus, gets underway Jan. 1.

The person who finds the first live  cabbage white butterfly, Pieris rapae, of the year in the three-county area of Sacramento, Yolo and Solano, will receive a pitcher of beer or its equivalent.