Yes, the state of California has an official state insect. California also has a state bird, state tree and even a state fossil.

The dogface butterfly became, by law, the state insect of California in 1972 but it unofficially had the title for years before that. One of the main factors for choosing the dogface butterfly was because the insect is only found in California.

As with many insects, the male and female are easy to tell apart. In the picture to the left the male is on the top and the female is on the bottom.

The butterfly’s formal name is Zerene eurydice but is called the dogface butterfly because it is thought the wing pattern of the male resembles a dog’s face. Besides it’s unusual name, the dogface butterfly is interesting because it isn’t seen very often in the wild and photographs of open wings are difficult because the butterfly flies so fast.

Below is a video of the dogface butterfly on a California Fuschia.