The Florida Museum is shocked and saddened by the passing of Thomas Emmel, our colleague and friend, who died over the weekend, apparently from natural causes, while traveling in Brazil.
Many of you have known Dr. Emmel for decades; others know him as a professor, mentor, researcher, travel guide, lepidopterist extraordinaire and as the initiator and founding director of the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera & Biodiversity.
Dr. Emmel’s death represents a personal loss for many, as well as a loss that will be felt across the scientific and avocational Lepidopterist communities. He will be sorely missed.
Many of Dr. Emmel’s friends have asked about making a gift in his memory, and the Museum suggests gifts be directed to the Thomas C. Emmel Founding Director’s Endowment, which supports collections and research at the Florida Museum’s McGuire Center.
Here is information on how to make a gift in his memory: https://www.uff.ufl.edu/give-now/?fund_id=019211
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The Sweet Briar community was saddened to learn of the death of Lincoln Brower, a world-renowned entomologist and research professor at the College. Brower died peacefully at his home in Nelson County on Tuesday, July 17, 2018, after an extended illness.
Born in New Jersey on Sept. 10, 1931, he was well-known internationally for his research on the chemical and physiological ecology of monarch butterflies, and was an ardent conservationist on their behalf. He worked tirelessly to protect the monarch’s overwintering habitat in Mexico, raising awareness through his research reports and dozens of interviews with national and international media organizations.
Here is the information on how to make a gift in his memory:
Gifts: https://monarchconservation.org/grants/small-grants-program/
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About a dozen butterfliers travelled up the Beeline Highway on Saturday, March 24, in spite of anticipating very low numbers of butterflies due to the lack of rainfall this winter. The plants certainly showed the effects of the lack of rain with very few blooming annuals and little evidence of new leaves on Desert Hackberry and Chaparral Beardtongue plants. Nonetheless we were not shut out and managed to see 15 species with some notable highlights. We had excellent views of the Yucca Giant Skippers and a Rocky Mountain Duskywing (county record!) in the creek bed in Sunflower Valley, and saw a large number of Brown Elfins foraging on willow catkins. All-in-all a worthwhile trip. Here are the details on the species we saw with rough counts of the number of each in parentheses.
Round Valley (3 species)
Sara Orangetip (3)
Variable Checkerspot (2)
Empress Leilia (4)
Old Sunflower Road (13 species)
Pipevine Swallowtail (5)
Two-Tailed Swallowtail (1)
Dainty Sulphur (1)
Spring White (3)
Sara Orangetip (3)
Brown Elfin (7)
Zela Metalmark (1)
Acmon Blue (1)
Sagebrush Checkerspot (10)
Satyr Comma (2)
Yucca Giant Skipper (2)
Golden-headed Scallopwing (2)
Rock Mountain Duskywing (1)
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Enjoy crafts, cockroach races, and even edible insects as you learn about the world of insects. The Butterfly Wonderland & OdySea Aquarium Foundations present this festival in appreciation of all the many-legged creatures that inhabit our planet. Meet real live bugs up close, plan your butterfly garden and learn about bees and scorpions! It's FREE!! Recommended for all ages! @ Butterfly Wonderland, Sunday March 11, from 10 am- 4 pm.
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Check out Butterfly Wonderland this weekend for their annual Fall Plant Sale October 15th-16th benefiting the Butterfly Foundation from 9am-4pm. Take home beautiful fall plants to boost butterfly, hummingbird and bee friendly gardens. Peruse craft vendors, educational booths and meet master gardeners.
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The 66th annual meeting of the Lepidopterists’ Society will be held from Sunday July 30 - Tuesday August 1, 2017 at the Tucson University Park Hotel (http://www.tucsonuniversityhotel.com) in Tucson, Arizona which is within walking distance to the University of Arizona Insect Collection (http://www.uainsectcollection.com). This event is hosted by the Department of Entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The University of Arizona has recently been ranked the top entomology program in the United States with particular specialties in Biodiversity, Integrative Pest Management and Pollination.
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Join other butterfly aficionados Saturday, November 4 – Tuesday, November 7, 2017, for the 22nd Annual Texas Butterfly Festival, and see for yourself why USA Today calls Mission, Texas, “the butterfly capital of the USA.”
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On June 10th, an eager group of 10 participants hiked the Col. Devin Trail for about 3/4 mile, checking out the butterflies mud puddling at the seeps, and nectar plants like Butterfly Milkweed, Buckbrush, Elk Weed and Arizona Thistle. Together we found 42 species of butterflies, with Orange-headed Roadside-Skipper and Long Dash being the best bugs.
Species list:
Western Tiger Swallowtail, Two-tailed Swallowtail, Orange Sulphur, Southern Dogface, Mexican Yellow, Sleepy Orange, Queen-Alexandra’s Sulphur, Dainty Sulphur, Western Green (Bramble) Hairstreak, Gray Hairstreak, Western Pine Elfin, Marine Blue, Reakirt’s Blue, Spring “Echo” Azure, Acmon Blue, Nais Metalmark (pictured), Zela Metalmark, Variegated Fritillary, Northwestern (Atlantis) Fritillary, Mylitta Crescent, Painted Lady, Common Buckeye, Red-spotted Purple, Weidemeyer’s Admiral, Arizona Sister, Mourning Cloak, Canyonland Satyr, Silver-spotted Skipper, Golden-banded Skipper, Northern Cloudywing, Funereal Duskywing, Meridian Duskywing, Rocky Mountain Duskywing, Afranius Duskywing, Common Checkered-Skipper, Four-spotted Skipperling, Taxiles Skipper, Tawny-edged Skipper, Deva Skipper, Bronze Roadside-Skipper, Orange-headed Roadside-Skipper, Long Dash.
Species we didn’t see last Saturday, but were seen a few days earlier when scouting, were: Thicket Hairstreak, Western Tailed-Blue, Northern Crescent and Satyr Comma.
Thanks everyone for a sharp eye, or a helping hand at the steep places! Marceline VandeWater
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After publishing my first 4 arthropod posters, I have been asked for a butterfly poster more times than I can remember. But there is so much good stuff out on Butterflies ... I was a little intimidated. Now I think I have put together a collection that does justice to the unique diversity of Arizona and at the same time looks beautiful. Many thanks to Ken Kertell, who allowed me to use a number of his excellent photos!
My new poster, 'Butterflies of Arizona', will come with a numbered template and corresponding species list. The size is 18 in by 24 in, is printed on heavy, semi-gloss art paper. It's actually real art print quality (not poster quality), and will not fade!
Cost: $25 plus shipping
Margarethe Brummermann
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Fourteen of us enjoyed a beautiful morning. We spent some productive time in the first one-half mile of the upstream portion of the wash where there was water. Farther up the wash and the major side canyon were dry, so we spent the remainder of the morning in the downstream portion of the wash. We finished the morning at Sears Kay Ruin, where we added four species to the list during the hike up to the Ruin.
We recorded a total of 34 species for the morning. Fun was the discovery of Arizona Sister, usually found at a higher elevation, and Mexican Yellow. A large gray skipper sitting in the shade gave us only a short glimpse before disappearing… considering the time of year and habitat, it must have been a Sheep Skipper.
Species recorded: Pipevine Swallowtail, Two-tailed Swallowtail, Checkered White, Sleepy Orange, Orange Sulphur, Southern Dogface, Dainty Sulphur, Mexican Yellow, Gray Hairstreak (Sears Kay), Marine Blue, Ceraunus Blue, Spring “Echo” Azure, Acmon Blue, W. Pygmy Blue, Mormon Metalmark (Sears Kay), American Snout, Elada Checkerspot, Variable Checkerspot, Sagebrush Checkerspot, California Patch (Sears Kay), Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Empress Leilia, Arizona Sister, Mourning Cloak, Common Buckeye, Red-spotted Purple, Monarch, Queen, Funereal Duskywing (Sears Kay), Sheep Skipper, Northern White-Skipper, Common Checkered-Skipper, Orange Skipperling.
Four species were found on the scouting trip the day before that were not seen on the field trip: Giant Swallowtail, Reakirt’s Blue, Variegated Fritillary, and Bordered Patch.
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