Bryan's Posts About Butterflies

Extinction and other Matters of Life and Death and Insects

Perspectives on the “insect apocalypse” and what we might do about it.

Insects and Us: Our Shared Fate

Now that the fate of insects is being described in apocalyptic terms, I’ll be helping to make some sense of it all live on Thursday, February 21, at noon on Vermont Public Radio. 

The Year in Flight

From tropical rainforests to northern bogs, a year of flying things on display for you in a span of 60 seconds.

What’s This? No. 32

What’s wrong with this puzzle? Lots. Among the 79 butterflies depicted in this otherwise lovely portrait, I’ve found no fewer than 14 errors.

Butterflies and Joy

Two hundred orange butterflies in a meadow of purple wildflowers — next to the ocean. It reminds me to slow down, lose myself, and find the joy.

Monhegan Migration Report No. 3

Migrate or die. Such is the fate of Monarchs here on Monhegan Island. But where do these Monarchs — 12 miles out to sea in the Gulf of Maine — spend the winter? I report from this Atlantic outpost.

Self Portraits with Insects

Every now and then, I find myself in a photograph of a flying insect. (Okay, these are accidental self portraits.) In this case, I’m photobombing a dragonfly and a butterfly.

The Extinction of Meaning

One of the most imperiled animals in North America isn’t big and furry like a polar bear. It has incited no eco-wars like those over the gray wolf or the spotted owl. Instead it’s a tiny butterfly that I’ve watched dance across the prairie.

Giant Butterflies in Montpelier

If you’ve got no plans to visit Texas or California or even the wilds of Vermont this summer to watch butterflies, wander down Main Street here in Montpelier. You’ll see some giants.

Montpelier Goes Wild

Spring Salamander and Summer Azure. Lesser Purple-fringed Orchid and Greater Celandine. Pineapple-Weed and Chocolate Tube Slime Mold. They were all among the more than a thousand living things we discovered here in Montpelier this past weekend.

Check Out These Checkerspots

Thaddeus William Harris might have liked this series of images, including a mating pair of Harris’ Checkerspots and the female’s eggs on her host plant, Flat-topped Aster.

Insects: In the Air and On the Air (with me) Today

Tune in and bug out with me and Kent McFarland today on Vermont Public Radio’s annual insect show.