FARMINGTON – Western Maine Audubon is pleased to announce a nature talk titled, The Distribution and Ecology of the Butterflies of Maine on Wednesday, May 10 at 7 p.m. in UMF’s North Dining Hall. The presentation, which is free to the public, will be given by retired Professor of Biology, Herb Wilson.

Dr. Wilson’s talk will center around the findings presented in the Butterflies of Maine and Maritime Provinces, to be published this fall by the Cornell University Press. This publication is based on a citizen-science project (the Maine Butterfly Survey or MBS) with field work conducted between 2003 and 2019. Many members of Western Maine Audubon contributed to the project.

Red Admiral

The talk will begin with a description of the distinguishing features of the five families of butterflies found in Maine. It will then explore the changes in distribution of many species, including a new North American record and other state records as well as the extirpation of some species. Finally, it will look at the importance of habitat in determining the presence of different butterfly species and conclude with an exploration of the effects of climate change on butterfly distribution.

Dr. Herb Wilson is a retired Professor of Biology from Colby College where he taught Ornithology, Evolution and Diversity, Marine Ecology, and Marine Invertebrate Zoology. His primary research interests are the impacts of global climate change on bird migration and the foraging behavior of winter birds in Maine. He is also an expert on butterflies and took part in collecting data for the Maine Butterfly Atlas.

For updated information on this talk as well as archived recordings of previous WMA talks, visit the website at: western.maineaudubon.org. This talk will also be archived on the website several weeks after it is given.

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail