Monarchs resting in a hackberry tree on their way south to Mexico in fall.

I normally don’t post every entomology related event I learn about in Texas; however this notice from Mike Quinn, President of the Austin Butterfly Forum, is intriguing enough to pass on.

If you live in the Austin area, or are fanatical enough to travel for butterflies, the Austin Butterfly Forum would like to announce a pair of back-to-back stellar meetings and field trips next month.  For the first time ever, all the remaining principal folks involved in the discovery of the monarch’s overwintering grounds, Catalina Aguado, John Christian, Bill Calvert and Lincoln Brower, will get together to discuss their extraordinary experiences of events that unfolded over the course of several winters in the mid-1970’s.  Lincoln Brower will give a second lecture the following evening on “The Grand Saga of the Monarch Butterfly Research.”

There will also be two associated butterfly field trips to meet the speakers in informal settings. More details can be found at: http://www.austinbutterflies.org/  All events will be held at, or start at, the Zilker Botanical Gardens, 2200 Barton Spring Road.  All events are free to ABF members. Non-members will be charged $5 for field trips and $10 for meetings. Parking fees also apply to all for field trips.  ABF membership is $20 annually per household payable to Doris Hill, ABF Treasurer, 1605 Broadmoor, Austin, TX 78723

I am sure these will be top notch lectures and once in a lifetime opportunities to meet with pioneers of butterfly research and insect conservation.  If I lived in Austin, I would surely participate.