Bug Banter with the Xerces Society

Florida may not be the first state that comes to mind when talking about monarch butterflies. Maybe that’s because much of the conversation about monarchs focuses on their migration and the condition of the overwintering sites in Mexico and California, and so it kind of bypasses the Sunshine State. However, there are reports that monarchs can be seen in Florida all year, and today, we are going to give them their time in the spotlight. We are going to take a journey with monarchs that travel through Florida and explore new exciting technologies to track their migration.
Who better to tell this story than monarch expert and Bug Banter regular, Ray Moranz. Ray is a Xerces Pollinator Conservation Specialist and NRCS Partner Biologist based in Oklahoma, where he works to conserve pollinators on rangelands in the central U.S. However, he has been studying monarchs for even longer and is probably seldom happier than when he is pursuing an orange-and-black butterfly across the Florida landscape.
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Cover photo: Dean Jue (c)
Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

Do you know what insects are in your pollinator garden or in your community? How do you find them, identify them, and continue to support them? Well, if you want the answers to these questions, you came to the right place!
To help us explore this topic and give us their best tips, are Jennifer Hopwood and Aaron Anderson. Jennifer is a Senior Pollinator Conservation Specialist with Xerces, providing resources and training for pollinator and beneficial insect habitat management and restoration in a variety of landscapes. Aaron is a Pesticide Program Specialist at Xerces and works with communities across the country, as well as Xerces staff, to reduce pesticide use in residential landscapes, including promoting non-pesticide approaches to landscape care and pollinator-friendly gardening practices. Neither of these guests are strangers to Bug Banter.
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Photo: Sara Morris CC BY-NC 2.0

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

Millipedes. Do they really have a thousand feet? To answer this and many other much more sensible questions, we are joined today by two people who know way more about these largely overlooked animals than I do, Drs Ben Jantzen and Jackson Means.
Ben is the founder and President of the Virginia Institute for Invertebrates. With a background in biophysics, especially insect flight, he is presently Associate Professor of Philosophy at Virginia Tech. Jackson is an Assistant Curator of Recent Invertebrates at the Virginia Museum of Natural History and a myriapodologist (i.e., a scientist that studies millipedes, centipedes, and relatives). His research focuses on the discovery and description of new species, primarily in the mountains and foothills of Appalachia.
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Photo: Peter Pearsall/USFWS
Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

We spend a lot of time talking about how we can create habitat for pollinators in yards, but there are other spaces too. So if you don’t have a yard or even if you do and you want to expand your impact, no problem! Today we are going to explore how to create pollinator habitat beyond your home. 
Joining us to talk about this is Kelly Gill, Pollinator Conservation Specialist and Partner Biologist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service for Xerces. Kelly provides advice and support on planning, designing, installing, and managing habitat in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Kelly also works with staff and research partners to develop technical guidelines and provide training on pollinator conservation practices.
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Photo: Kelly Gill (c)

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

The color green is associated with a clean, healthy environment. When we see a green space, we often think it’s good, whether it is a beautiful forest or a neighborhood lawn. All plants provide for wildlife, right? Unfortunately, no. Some landscapes, in particular lawns, provide very little to no habitat. So, what can folks do to change their landscape? How can they rethink or replace their lawn to support wildlife?
To explore this topic, we are joined by Emily May and Stephanie Frischie. Emily is part of our pesticide reduction team at Xerces. With a focus on pesticides in agriculture, Emily works with farmers, researchers, conservation professionals, and agencies across the U.S. to reduce pesticide risks to pollinators and other beneficial insects, support the adoption of ecologically sound pest management practices, and expand high-quality habitat in working lands. 
Stephanie Frischie is an Agronomist and Native Plant Materials Specialist at Xerces. Stephanie brings technical expertise on native plant materials, native plants, and plant-insect interactions to her work across conservation agronomy; plant ecology; ecological restoration; and native seed production, use, policy, research, and quality — all to improve the supply and growth of important plant species for restoration of insect habitat.
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Photo: Emily May
Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.