Wings of the West: Exploring Butterfly Life Histories

06/04/24 • 37 min

We often hear about monarch butterflies, but there are many other species of butterflies in North America. So we are kicking off a series of three podcasts to highlight butterflies in different regions of the US and today we are focusing on butterflies west of the Rockies!
Joining us is butterfly expert and Xerces Society Endangered Species Conservation Biologist, Kevin’s Burls. Kevin's efforts with the Xerces Society focus on protecting the hundreds of butterfly species that inhabit deserts, forests, and grasslands across the western United States.

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

Previous Episode

Mosquitoes Matter: Untangling Myths & Mastering Management

It was Jimmie Durante who first came up with the rhyme, “spring is sprung, the grass is riz; I wonder where them boidies is?” Of course, spring also means the return of insects — bees, butterflies, dragonflies, and yes, mosquitoes — and here at the Xerces Society we start getting questions about what to do about these pesky critters. Does spraying help? Does spraying harm other insects? What are the alternatives and do they work?
To explore the topic of mosquitoes, we are joined today by Aaron Anderson. Aaron is a Pesticide Program Specialist at Xerces and works with communities across the country, as well as Xerces staff, to reduce pesticide use in residential landscapes, including promoting non-pesticide approaches to landscape care and pollinator-friendly gardening practices.

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

Next Episode

Wings of the East: Exploring Butterfly Life Histories

Continuing with our series on butterflies, we are highlighting the butterflies east of the Rockies, which is a huge area and encompasses so many different environments — prairies in the Great Plains and the Midwest; forests of New England and the Southeast; mountains of the Appalachians; the wetlands and beaches of the Atlantic and the Gulf coasts.

To try and cover all of these, we are joined by Ray Moranz, who you may remember from episode six, when he talked about the monarch, a butterfly that could be found in any of those areas. Ray is a pollinator conservation specialist and NRCS partner biologist with the Xerces Society, and has spent many years studying butterfly and plant communities across the US.

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

Bug Banter with the Xerces Society - Wings of the West: Exploring Butterfly Life Histories

Transcript

Matthew: Welcome to bug banter with the Xerces society where we explore the world of invertebrates and how to help these extraordinary animals. If you want to support our work go to Xerces.org/give.

Rachel: Hi, I'm Rachel Dunham in Missoula, Montana.

Matthew: And I'm Matthew Shepherd in Portland, Oregon.

Rachel: We often hear about monarch butterflies, but there are many other species of butterflies in North America. So we are kicking off a series of three podcasts to highlig