Contribute to 30+ years of research on the abundance of butterflies and dragonflies at Riveredge by helping with these counts! You will have the opportunity to to shadow and learn to identify important indicator species in the field alongside conservation professionals. Participate for all or part of the day. Wear walking shoes and pack a bag lunch if you’re staying for the day.
8:30 – 9:30 will be a review and refresher. The count will take place from 9:30 to 3:00.
Ages 18+
This program is free to attend, but donations are greatly appreciated!
Pre-register by June 28 at 11:55 pm (highly recommended) or register at the program.
Follow the instructions using the button below to login to your member account for member discounts on programs and events. You can use this login to check your membership status, see your expiration date, and renew your membership as well.
If you don’t see the member price after logging in, need help checking your membership status, or you are unsure what email address we have on file, please reach out to our Membership Manager, Renee Buchholz at [email protected] or call the Riveredge office at 262-375-2715.
Last year the BugLady had so many midsummer stories to tell that she wrote one episode about dragonflies, and a second about “other” (because as seasoned BugFans know (well) her camera gravitates to dragons and damsels). She’s got a heap of pictures to share again this year, but she’ll mix and match the groups in a two-part summer feature.
ROSE CHAFER BEETLE – The BugLady saw a single Rose Chafer last year and wrote about it https://uwm.edu/field-station/rose-chafer-beetle/. This year, she found bunches of them – orgies of them (she’s not sure what the collective noun for Rose Chafers is, but she’s pretty sure it’s “orgy”). And she was enthralled by the leggy designs they made on the undersides of milkweed leaves.
American CopperBronze Copper
COPPER BUTTERFLY – A highlight of the BugLady’s recent explorations of Kohler-Andrae State Park was finding two species of Copper butterflies – American Copper and Bronze Copper (she rarely finds Coppers). The Coppers are in the Gossamer-wing butterfly family Lycaenidae, along with the Harvesters, Hairstreaks, Elfins, and Blues. Their caterpillars feed on plants in the rose and buckwheat families (dock, sorrel, and knotweed).
VIOLET/VARIABLE DANCER – The BugLady was talking to a friend recently about the colors that dragonflies and damselflies come in. Black, black and yellow, green, blue – even red. But purple?
FLY ON PITCHER PLANT – This is just the way it’s supposed to work. Insects with a “sweet tooth” get lured to the lip of the pitcher plant and partake of the (slightly narcotic) nectar there. Judgment impaired, they mosey around a little, maybe venturing onto the zone of down-pointing teeth below the lip, and then onto the slick, waxy zone below that. It’s all downhill from there.
GOLDENROD CRAB SPIDER on yarrow (not all Goldenrod crab spiders have red racing stripes). Incoming insects have trouble seeing her, too. Out of all the species of crab spiders in the world (about 3,000), only a very few have the ability to change colors, and that ability is limited to the female of the species. Her color palette includes white, yellow, and pale green. She sees the background color with her eyes, and because a wardrobe change takes her between three days and three weeks she tends to stay on her chosen flower. Her base color is white, and switching involves either creating yellow pigment or reabsorbing and then sequestering or excreting it.
Why? Good question. Scientists have tested spiders on matching and non-matching flowers (which they often sit on), and they saw no boost in hunting success when the spiders matched their background (she likes prey that’s bigger than she is, like bumblebees, because she has eggs to make. She loses weight on a diet of small flies). When spiders themselves are the prey, they are not picked off more often on non-matching flowers. Maybe the color change gives her some sort of advantage when she forms her egg case, or maybe it’s a vestigial solution to a long-ago problem.
ORANGE-LEGGED DRONE FLY – This Syrphid/Flower/Hover fly is so serious about its bumble bee disguise that it makes a loud buzz when it’s flying
SEDGE SPRITE TUSSLE – the BugLady was in a bog not long ago when she saw two damselflies tussling on some leaves. At first, she thought there was some predation going on, but that didn’t make sense because they were both Sedge Sprites. He had grabbed her and was wrestling with her, and she was having none of it. He suddenly flipped her around and clasped the back of her head with the tip of his abdomen (SOP for mating dragonflies and damselflies). Rather than reaching forward and taking his sperm packet, she ultimately gave a couple of good shakes and dislodged him. One small drama.
PHANTOM CRANE FLY – Flies come in all sizes and shapes, but this magical creature in white spats is the BugLady’s favorite. It lives in dappled, brushy wetland edges where it flickers through the vegetation like a tiny wraith.
FORKTAIL AND POWDERED DANCER – Eastern Forktails are voracious hunters that go after other damselflies, even those close to their size. The mature female forktail (in blue) found a teneral (young) Powdered Dancer (in tan) that was probably not a strong flyer yet.
Have you ever wanted to see a bird up close and in the hand, tag a monarch or learn how to catch dragons and damsels? Join Horicon Marsh as they welcome experts to showcase all the ways that you can build your community science skills! Watch Riveredge Nature Center bird bander, Jana, up close from 7-11am. Join members of the Wisconsin Dragonfly Society from 9:30-11:30am to learn tricks on identification and how to catch them. Tag a monarch at the beginning of its journey to Mexico from 12:30-2pm plus more!
The Horicon Marsh Education and Visitor Center is located at N7725 Highway 28, Horicon, WI. For additional information please contact Liz Herzmann at 920-210-9054 or [email protected].
All ages welcome (Children should be accompanied by an adult)
This program is free to attend! Pre-registration is not required.
Join a naturalist for a casual walk on the trails of Riveredge. Each stroll will focus on a special aspect of nature but other things of interest will be explored as well. These educational programs will give you a better understanding of the flora and fauna of the nature center. You may even learn some of the history of the land too.
Ages 18+
All Access Members: Free | Non-members: $5
Pre-registration is not required, but highly recommended.
Be sure to sign in to your account in the upper right corner to activate your membership benefits. Membership discounts on programs will be applied to your cart at checkout. If you haven’t created an account with our new system, be sure to create one using the email address associated with your membership.
If you need to check your membership status or you aren’t sure what email address we have on file, please reach out to our Membership Manager, Renee Buchholz at [email protected].
Join a naturalist for a casual walk on the trails of Riveredge. Each stroll will focus on a special aspect of nature but other things of interest will be explored as well. These educational programs will give you a better understanding of the flora and fauna of the nature center. You may even learn some of the history of the land too.
Ages 18+
All Access Members: Free | Non-members: $5
Pre-registration is not required, but highly recommended.
Be sure to sign in to your account in the upper right corner to activate your membership benefits. Membership discounts on programs will be applied to your cart at checkout. If you haven’t created an account with our new system, be sure to create one using the email address associated with your membership.
If you need to check your membership status or you aren’t sure what email address we have on file, please reach out to our Membership Manager, Renee Buchholz at [email protected].
