Recent news
The Florida Museum is shocked and saddened by the passing of Thomas Emmel, our colleague and friend, who died over the weekend, apparently from natural causes, while traveling in Brazil.
Many of you have known Dr. Emmel for decades; others know him as a professor, mentor, researcher, travel guide, lepidopterist extraordinaire and as the initiator and founding director of the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera & Biodiversity.
Dr. Emmel’s death represents a personal loss for many, as well as a loss that will be felt across the scientific and avocational Lepidopterist communities. He will be sorely missed.
Many of Dr. Emmel’s friends have asked about making a gift in his memory, and the Museum suggests gifts be directed to the Thomas C. Emmel Founding Director’s Endowment, which supports collections and research at the Florida Museum’s McGuire Center.
Here is information on how to make a gift in his memory: https://www.uff.ufl.edu/give-now/?fund_id=019211
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The Sweet Briar community was saddened to learn of the death of Lincoln Brower, a world-renowned entomologist and research professor at the College. Brower died peacefully at his home in Nelson County on Tuesday, July 17, 2018, after an extended illness.
Born in New Jersey on Sept. 10, 1931, he was well-known internationally for his research on the chemical and physiological ecology of monarch butterflies, and was an ardent conservationist on their behalf. He worked tirelessly to protect the monarch’s overwintering habitat in Mexico, raising awareness through his research reports and dozens of interviews with national and international media organizations.
Here is the information on how to make a gift in his memory:
Gifts: https://monarchconservation.org/grants/small-grants-program/
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About a dozen butterfliers travelled up the Beeline Highway on Saturday, March 24, in spite of anticipating very low numbers of butterflies due to the lack of rainfall this winter. The plants certainly showed the effects of the lack of rain with very few blooming annuals and little evidence of new leaves on Desert Hackberry and Chaparral Beardtongue plants. Nonetheless we were not shut out and managed to see 15 species with some notable highlights. We had excellent views of the Yucca Giant Skippers and a Rocky Mountain Duskywing (county record!) in the creek bed in Sunflower Valley, and saw a large number of Brown Elfins foraging on willow catkins. All-in-all a worthwhile trip. Here are the details on the species we saw with rough counts of the number of each in parentheses.
Round Valley (3 species)
Sara Orangetip (3)
Variable Checkerspot (2)
Empress Leilia (4)
Old Sunflower Road (13 species)
Pipevine Swallowtail (5)
Two-Tailed Swallowtail (1)
Dainty Sulphur (1)
Spring White (3)
Sara Orangetip (3)
Brown Elfin (7)
Zela Metalmark (1)
Acmon Blue (1)
Sagebrush Checkerspot (10)
Satyr Comma (2)
Yucca Giant Skipper (2)
Golden-headed Scallopwing (2)
Rock Mountain Duskywing (1)
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