Since 1977, Professor Arthur Shapiro has held an annual contest to catch a particular butterfly species. He awards a pitcher of beer to the first person who captures a live cabbage butterfly, ![[WWW]](http://wikispot.org/wiki/eggheadbeta/img/sycamore-www.png){kind=small}
Pieris rapae, after Jan. 1 each year. The butterfly usually is the first kind to emerge after metamorphosis in spring. Shapiro runs the contest to make sure he's doing his job monitoring the insect. Few beat him to the punch. (from Dateline, January 17, 2003)
Contest flier from 2001 
Contest flier from 2006.
Contest Coverage
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"The suspense fluttered to an end on Jan. 26 [2006] when entomologist Art Shapiro captured the first cabbage butterfly (Pieris rapae) of the year in West Sacramento, Yolo County. He gets to buy himself a pitcher of beer for the 28th out of 34 years—that is the deal he's made with himself. '"I arrived at 1 p.m. sharp, saw the bug coming straight at me and got it on the first swing at 1:06 p.m., and the rest, as they say, is history.'" (from
Dateline, Feb 3, 2006)
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2008:
First butterfly of the year goes to Art Shapiro, again
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2009: According to the Evolution and Ecology office, the contest ended on January 20th when Dr. Shapiro again caught the first Pieris rapae of the year in Yolo County.
