A Flower Trap
With its foot stuck in a milkweed flower like a Chinese finger trap, the European Skipper was struggling to free itself. On another flower nearby only a leg remained from…
A Field Guide to June 2016
Here in Vermont, we dream of June during the darkest days of January. Verdant wooded hillsides glowing brightly under a robin egg sky. Warm afternoon breezes rolling through the valleys as we lounge by the clear waters of a cold river. The chorus of birds waking us each morning. June is a dream, and here are some of its natural history wonders.
Vermont Butterfly Big Year Takes Flight
With the help of an army of citizen scientists, we aim to record every species of butterfly in Vermont this year. It’s a blend of science, education, competition, enjoyment, and a quest to monitor the changing nature of the state. Join the Big Year!
A Field Guide to December
Fear not, during these short days and long nights of December, we’re still finding plenty of life in the fading light. Once we pass the winter solstice more light will begin to creep back into our lives. Until then, here’s some wintry natural history.
Vermont Fish & Wildlife Dept Announces Strategic Plan to Conserve Wildlife
MONTPELIER, Vt. – The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department has released a draft Wildlife Action Plan that lays out the state’s strategic vision for conserving species during the next ten…
Sex, Drugs and Bees: plant chemistry and pollinators
Many plants rely on flower visits by pollinators such as bees in order to reproduce. When bees consume nectar and pollen, they must cope with naturally occurring plant secondary chemicals,…
Choose Native Plants When Landscaping
Beyond the beauty new gardens provide, landscapers can make a big difference for wildlife with the plants they choose.
‘Nature’s Medicine Cabinet’ Helps Bumble Bees Reduce Disease Load
Researchers studying the interaction between plants, pollinators and parasites report that in recent experiments, bees infected with a common intestinal parasite had reduced parasite levels in their guts after seven days if the bees also consumed natural toxins present in plant nectar.
Bee Foraging Chronically Impaired by Pesticide Exposure
A study co-authored by a University of Guelph scientist that involved fitting bumblebees with tiny radio frequency tags shows long-term exposure to a neonicotinoid pesticide hampers bees’ ability to forage…
After 90 Percent Decline, Federal Protection Sought for Monarch Butterfly
WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety as co-lead petitioners joined by the Xerces Society and renowned monarch scientist Dr. Lincoln Brower filed a legal petition…
Plight of the Pollinators on UVM Extension’s ‘Across The Fence’
Recently, VCE biologist Kent McFarland was on Across the Fence, produced by the University of Vermont Extension. They have been on-air on WCAX-TV since 1955, the longest-running, locally-produced television program in the…
Bumble Bees in Peril
Unprecedented search by VCE reveals four species either extinct or declining More than one-quarter of Vermont’s bumble bee species, which are vital crop pollinators, have either vanished or are in…
