| |
The Austin Butterfly Forum meets at the Zilker Botanical Garden Center at 7:00 pm on the 4th Monday of every month except for December. Meetings are free and open to the public. (The building will be open even if there is a “Closed” sign on the door. Please come on in.)
Each meeting features an educational program, but we like to socialize a bit beforehand. Sometimes members will bring caterpillars or collections for display, and sometimes we have special opportunities such as plant giveaways. The meetings are also a good place to hear special announcements and learn about new events.
Here is a calendar of Austin Butterfly Forum events and other events that may be of interest to members. For a more complete listing of events outside Austin, visit Mike Quinn's page of Texas entomological events.
Mon Jan 26 - Club Meeting: Wasp Evolution, Biodiversity and Behavior. Presentation by Alan Hook, Zilker Botanical Garden Center, 7:00pm.
Dr. Allan Hook, Professor of Biology at St. Edward’s University, will speak about the evolution of Hymenoptera, the group that includes wasps, ants and bees. The talk will include subjects such as why there is so much diversity within this large group, and how and why various behaviors developed. Dr. Hook will also show films and explain the behavioral ecology of solitary wasps from Pedernales State Park.
For more information, see Dr. Hook’s website: http://www.stedwards.edu/science/biology/people/hook.html.
Mon Feb 23 - Club Meeting: The Chemistry of Love and Rejection: Tales from Butterflies and Moths. Catalina Estrada, Ph.D candidate at UT Austin, will speak about similarities and differences in sexual communication of butterflies and moths using scents, and about how food, natural enemies or climate can affect the chemical language of love in unexpected ways! She will also talk about what we have learned and how we have deciphered this way of communication in Heliconius butterflies, a well known group of colorful and distasteful butterflies. Zilker Botanical Garden Center, 7:00pm.
Mon Mar 23 - Club Meeting: Painting Butterfly Life Cycles. Nan Wilson. Nan is an artist who specializes in painting butterfly life cycles. Visit her website: Thistledown Studio. Nan will tell us how she selects a creature, raises it, and paints it. She will have art for sale at the meeting. Zilker Botanical Garden Center, 7:00pm.
Sat and Sun, Mar 28 - 29 Zilker Garden Festival, Zilker Botanical Garden.
CANCELLED (Mike may re-schedule later in Sprint) Sun Apr 5 - Field Trip to Palmetto State Park led by Mike Quinn. Details to be announced.
Mon April 27 - Club Meeting: Blacklights and Bananas: What comes out when the sun goes down. Mark McClelland will give a presentation and demonstration on using blacklights and banana baits to attract moths, beetles, bugs, butterflies, and other insects. Zilker Botanical Garden Center, 7:00pm.
Saturday, May 2 Butterfly Workshop at Zilker Botanical Garden. This is a yearly workshop organized by the Austin Butterfly Forum. More information and fee to be announced.
Mon May 25 - Club Meeting: Dung Beetles: Nature's Ultimate Recyclers. Peg Wallace will present information on dung beetle evolution, life cycles and ecology. She will also talk about her research on dung beetles in the Austin area, and give information on how to find and recognize dung beetles. Zilker Botanical Garden Center, 7:00pm.
Mon Jun 22 - Club Meeting: Tips for Identifying Butterflies. Dan Hardy, Zilker Botanical Garden Center 7 pm. Dan Hardy. Do you want to learn how to identify those pesky small brown skippers and look-alike sulphurs? Dan Hardy will show side-by-side photos comparing the common and uncommon butterflies of Austin. This is the traditional warm-up program for the upcoming butterfly count.
Sat June 27 - Annual 4th of July Butterfly Count. Meet in the Zilker Botanical Garden parking lot at 8:00 am. If it is pouring rain we will postpone till the next day. For more information (and if there is to be a rain delay) contact Dan Hardy, dhh787@yahoo.com. Everyone is welcome, including all skill levels. We count butterfly adults and caterpillars within a 15 mile diameter circle centered at Mount Bonnell. In addition to the Botanical Garden, we visit many of the best butterfly spots around town, including the Barton Creek Greenbelt and St. Edward's Park in NW Austin. We usually work as a single group, although if we have enough participants, we may be able to cover multiple areas in parallel.
This is the butterfly equivalent of the Christmas Bird counts. The results are submitted to NABA (North American Butterfly Association). In 2007 we had a record number of species (63) and observers (25) for Austin. See http://www.austinbutterflies.org/counts for reports from prior years.
Be prepared for walking through brush and wet areas. Wear long pants, hat, sunscreen, and insect repellent. Bring water, snacks, close focusing binoculars, and (optional) butterfly nets. The count typically lasts until late afternoon, although you may leave at any time. We have lunch at Triumph Cafe on 3808 Spicewood Springs.
Mon Oct 26 - Club Meeting: Andrea DeLong-Amaya, Director of Horticulture, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Topic to be announced later. . Zilker Botanical Garden Center, 7:00pm.
Mon Nov 30 - Club Meeting: Member Show and Tell. Members can show slides of butterflies, ranging from those in the backyard to distant travels, or you can talk about your best butterfly experience of the year. We will have an LCD projector available so you only have to bring a CD or thumb drive. We also have a slide projector. You have 10 minutes. It's a fun way to wrap up the year, as the butterflies dwindle. If you want to participate, please contact Dan Hardy dhh787@yahoo.com. Zilker Botanical Garden Center, 7:00pm.
|
