Western Maine Audubon to host talk on Maine butterflies May 10

Western Maine Audubon is scheduled to host a presentation, “The Distribution and Ecology of the Butterflies of Maine,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 10, at the University of Maine at Farmington. Shown is a Canadian Tiger Swallowtail, a.k.a. Papilio canadensis Papilionidae, in Palermo. Herb Wilson photo

FARMINGTON — Western Maine Audubon is scheduled to host a presentation, “The Distribution and Ecology of the Butterflies of Maine,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 10, in the University of Maine at Farmington’s North Dining Hall, South Street.

The free presentation will be given by Herb Wilson, a retired biology professor.

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 2003-19. Many members of Western Maine Audubon contributed to the project, according to a news release from Will Jones, board member with Western Maine Audubon.

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.

Wilson taught ornithology, evolution and diversity, marine ecology, and Marine invertebrate zoology at Colby College. 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, go to western.maineaudubon.org. This talk also will be archived on the website several weeks after it is given.