GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Imperiled butterflies across the U.S. may benefit in the coming years from a series of innovative workshops designed by a Florida Museum of Natural History researcher with over a decade of experience working to recover the endangered Miami blue butterfly in south Florida.
Jaret Daniels, assistant curator of Lepidoptera at the Florida Museum’s McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, received $365,299 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services in September. His winning grant proposes organizing and executing five training workshops over a three-year period through the Imperiled Butterfly Conservation and Management program.
“The intent of this program is to raise the bar for butterfly conservation,” Daniels said. “We’re targeting institutions that participate in butterfly conservation, or plan to do so in the future, but whose staff is limited by lack of information or experience; especially regarding techniques or methodologies for captive breeding and reintroduction of imperiled butterfly species.” (more…)
Editors note: A full schedule of events follows this release.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida Museum of Natural History ButterflyFest visitors will have the opportunity this weekend to see four rare butterfly fossils not normally on public display.
The fossil butterfly exhibit is one of the many activities and workshops taking place during the museum’s annual butterfly festival from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Housed in the Florida Museum’s invertebrate paleontology collections, the specimens are four of about 50 known fossil butterflies in the world.
“Butterfly fossils are rare because they have extremely delicate exoskeletons,” said Florida Museum of Natural History Invertebrate Paleontologist Roger Portell. “Insect fossils are preserved under unique conditions.” (more…)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Museum of Natural History’s Randell Research Center in Pineland recently completed a two-year program to plant more than 800 native trees.
Volunteers donated nearly $40,000 in labor costs to plant more than 30 species of trees at the state-owned Pineland archaeological site and at the Lee County-owned Gill House property, both of which are managed by the Randell Center.
“In 2004, Hurricanes Charley and Frances blew over many trees, and also scattered the seeds of invasive exotic trees, such as Brazilian pepper,” said Randell Center Director Bill Marquardt. “The aggressive non-native trees quickly began to transform the landscape. We received a grant for removal of the invasive plants as well as the purchase and planting of native trees. The result is a landscape that is more diverse, and that will be ultimately easier to maintain.” (more…)
Florida Museum’s display of new live African butterflies supports conservation Latest Rainforest arrivals complement upcoming ‘Inside Africa’ exhibit opening March 15March 6th, 2008
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Grab a friend and head to the Florida Museum of Natural History where African butterflies are making a transatlantic debut in the Butterfly Rainforest. An added bonus? Your entry ticket helps conserve coastal forestland in Kenya.
The Florida Museum is testing the first arrivals from Africa now as it prepares for the “Inside Africa” traveling exhibit, which opens March 15 and runs through Sept. 7.
“This is the first time we’ve displayed African species, so we’re experimenting to see which ones will best survive the long journey and thrive in our Butterfly Rainforest environment,” said Tom Emmel, director of the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity. (more…)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida Museum of Natural History visitors can do more than buy butterfly souvenirs and natural history items on their next trip to the museum gift shops — they can help save the environment by purchasing a reusable canvas tote to use as an alternative to traditional grocery bags.
Florida Museum Associates Board members Phil and Barbara Emmer donated the bags after learning about the destruction caused by the production and use of normal supermarket bags.
“Plastic and paper grocery bags are causing terrible damage to the environment,” Phil Emmer said. “When Barbara learned about the horrible effects these bags have, she knew she wanted to take some sort of action.” (more…)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Museum of Natural History is now selling advance tickets to ButterflyFest, scheduled for Oct. 13-14.
The weekend butterfly festival, now in its second year, features a variety of activities for all ages including live entertainment, crafts and demonstrations, field trips and behind-the-scene tours, exhibits by area non-profit organizations, as well as vendors offering food and butterfly and garden gifts and plants.
“We’ve been receiving so many calls we decided to begin advance ticket sales now to help alleviate long lines during the weekend event,” said ButterflyFest co-coordinator Betty Dunckel. (more…)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Museum of Natural History recently completed several major projects to help educate the public about the state’s native butterflies and wildflowers.
Funded with a $94,409 grant from the state of Florida, Florida Wildflower Advisory Council and the Florida Wildflower Foundation Inc., the “Educating the Public about Florida’s Wildflowers and Butterflies” project allowed the museum to create a new outdoor garden, indoor exhibit, web site and color brochure.
“The Florida Museum’s Butterfly Rainforest has generated considerable visitor interest in butterfly gardening,” said Florida Museum Center for Informal Science Education Director Betty Dunckel. “Our garden showcases Florida’s native wildflowers and their importance as host and nectar plants for our native butterflies.” (more…)
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida researchers from the Florida Museum of Natural History’s McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity will release several hundred captive-bred Miami blue butterfly caterpillars into the wild in Biscayne National Park on Wednesday Sept. 20, weather permitting. The release is part of one of the nation’s most productive endangered species breeding programs, developed to pull the Miami blue butterfly from the edge of extinction.
The State of Florida lists the nickel-sized Miami blue as an endangered species and the butterfly is one of the most imperiled insects in the United States. Florida Museum Lepidoptera researchers are working to recover the Miami blue to ensure it remains a part of Florida’s rich mix of native fauna.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida Museum of Natural History’s McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity will sponsor a free public lecture at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2 in the J. Wayne Reitz Union Auditorium by world-renowned ecologist Daniel Janzen.
Janzen, the University of Pennsylvania DiMaura professor of conservation biology, will discuss “Conservation, caterpillar inventory and DNA barcoding of a large complex tropical wildland.” The lecture is free and open to the public.
Janzen has 50 years of experience as a tropical ecologist with an emphasis on preservation and biodiversity. With more than 400 publications on the subjects, he is considered an expert in the fields of tropical science administration and conservation biology. Janzen has received many awards throughout his career, including the first Crafoord Prize in biology by the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences (1984), the Kyoto Prize in Basic Biology (1997), and the John Scott Award of the City of Philadelphia for activities good for humankind (2003).