These slide notes accompany a slideshow of the same name prepared by Nancy Lee Adamson (Xerces Society), many other Xerces Society staff, & Carol Heiser (VA Department of Game & Inland Fisheries), for Virginia Master Naturalists promoting meadow establishment for pollinator & upland game conservation, with input & support from Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries biologists & the USDA-NRCS East National Technology Support Center.

1. 1 Integrating Native Pollinators into Wildlife Conservation Practices
Thank you for coming. This program was prepared by Nancy Adamson of the Xerces Society and
Carol Heiser of the VA Department of Game & Inland Fisheries to promote meadow establishment
for pollinator & upland game conservation. The Xerces Society is a not-for-profit invertebrate
conservation organization based in Portland, OR, but with field staff around the country.
2 Presentation Outline
Today, we’ll talk about the importance of pollinators & other insects, how nesting habits affect
needs, quail habitat, protection from pesticides, native meadow establishment, and additional
resources.
3 The Importance of Pollinators and Other Insects
While many of us are interested in providing bird and other wildlife, this program focuses on
insects as the basis of food chains, and due to recent declines in pollinator populations, raising
public awareness about the need to protect and support beneficial insect populations.
4 Economic Value of Insects
Value of ecological services provided by insects is estimated at $57 billion, yearly. These estimates
do not include services from domesticated species (honey bees, wasps available commercially for
biocontrol).
Insects contribute $22 billion to recreation industry as food for wildlife, wild natural enemies
protect more than $4.5 billion in crop production in the U.S., native pollinators contribute at least
$3 billion in pollination, and clean up grazing lands, saving ranchers more than $380 million & help
retain nutrients.
5 Pollination and Human Nutrition
Due to recent bee declines, there is a lot of awareness about the importance of pollination. About
one in three mouthfuls of our food and drink depends directly on pollinators. These foods are
generally the most nutritious and delicious parts of our diet, most of our fruits and vegetables.
6 Insect Pollinators Are Ecological Keystones
But, the importance of pollinators is even greater in non-agricultural systems. This 85% is an
average across temperate and tropical regions. In tropical areas, more than 95% of plants
depend on animal pollinators, mostly insects. Fewer in temperate regions, but still about 80%!
Because bees are so well adapted for gathering pollen, they are especially important for whole
ecosystems. Some bees are pollen speciliasts, feeding only on certain plant species or families.
Some plants encourage visits from the best pollinators, in this case bottle gentian remains closed
until a bb squeezes into the flower. If you go to collect gentian seed in fall, you may be surprised
to discover a bb sleeping inside! (Gentianaandrewsii)
A plant that is only pollinated by bumble bees. A plant where we’ve seen (anecdotally) declines in
bumble bees correspond to declines of this plant. It flowers in early fall. May see male bumble
bees sleeping inside the flowers at night.
7 Bugs Drive the System
Bugs as pollinators and bugs as food drive our ecosystems, providing the plants, fruits, and seeds
we and a lot of other wildlife depend on. They are vital sources of protein for many species, our
beloved songbirds, and larger wildlife, including bears and smaller “beneficial” critters like spiders.
8 Multiple Benefits of Pollinator Habitat
Fruits and seeds are a major part of the diet of many insects, about 25% of birds, and many
mammals.
9 Multiple Benefits of Pollinator Habitat
Pollinators and other insects are food for wildlife, including 89% of birds.

2. Anecdote about birds of Michigan needing 1mil caterpillars a day.
10 Multiple Benefits of Pollinator Habitat
One of the huge additional benefits of pollinator conservation is that many of the same pollen and
nectar sources that support native bees, also support many predatory and parasitoid insects. This
syrphid fly adult sipping nectar produces larvae that are voracious aphid predators, for expample.
This parasitoid wasp adult is laying an egg inside an aphid and its young will eat the aphid from the
inside out…
11 Main Groups of Polilnators
There are a lot of insect pollinators, including butterflies, skippers (another type of butterfly),
moths, flies (this is a bee mimic that is often photographed and labeled as a bee—can ask folks to
say how can tell not a bee), beetles, and wasps.
12 Bees: The Most Important Pollinators
But bees are far and away our most important pollinators. They are the only ones that totally
depend on pollen and nectar during every stage of their life.
• Bees provide for their young: the only other group to do this are wasps. Providing for
their young means that they have to visit a lot of flowers to get the food.
• Bees actively collect and transport pollen: wasps also provide for young, but bring them
meat (e.g. soft insects or carrion). Bees on the other hand collect only pollen and nectar.
• Bees exhibit flower constancy: bees typically stay faithful to a single species of flower on
a foraging trip, ensuring that pollen moves between flowers of the same species.
• Bees regularly forage in area around nest: if you can support nest sites and habitat close
to a farm, the bees will visit the area around that farm
If our goal is to help biodiversity conservation, while also helping adjacent insect-pollinated crop
production, we should focus on bees. This will serve as an umbrella for many other pollinator
groups (e.g. butterflies), as well as beneficial predators and parasites of pests, and also benefit
many other types of wildlife, especially groundnesting birds and small mammals.
13 Honey Bees: Colony Collapse Disorder
I won’t dwell on colony collapse disorder (there is still no smoking gun), but because of CCD, the
public is really aware of the importance of protecting pollinators. They really want to know what
they can do to help, so this is a prime time for you to share the info you learn here. You will have
a lot of tools to share that many people are not aware of.
14 Some Bumble Bees in Decline
Besides declines in honey bees, many of our native bees are also in decline. Due to the
domestication of one of our native bees, we think disease was inadvertently introduced. These
bees escape from greenhouses and have likely spread disease. All of these bumble bees used to
be common in their range. The two on the right were common in our region, the yellowbanded
and rusty patched. Now they are rare.
[Of particular importance are members of the subgenus Bombus. This is a closely related group of
“sister species” that range across the country. Once they accounted for some of the most
common bees in their range, now they are nearly impossible to find in many portions of their
ranges.
-B. pensylvanicusis also in decline (not one of the sister species), as well as a number of other
unrelated species (especially many of the cuckoo bees)]
15 Bumble Bee Citizen Monitoring Project
Xerces Society has a citizen science monitoring program that has been really successful, just with
photos sent in by individuals across the country. These little pocket guides are available on the
website and include not only the rare species, but other common bumble bees, so they make

3. great field guides, in general. Citizen scientists have documented more than 12 new records of
this rare bee—a huge number in the rare species monitoring world.
Note: without citizen monitors, we wouldn’t have known that this species still occurs in: MN, MA,
and PA
The basic knowledge of where a rare species presently occurs is a critical first piece of information
necessary to conserve that species
16 Bumble Bee Citizen Monitoring Project
Citizen monitors have contributed 7 confirmed records of the yellow banded bumble bee. Again, a
monitoring effort that would be very tough for individual natural heritage scientists to achieve on
their own.
Xerces Society has a citizen science monitoring program that has been really successful, just with
photos sent in by individuals across the country. These little pocket guides are available on the
website and include not only the rare species, but other common bumble bees, so they make
great field guides, in general.
Note: without citizen monitors, we wouldn’t have known that this species still occurs in: MN, MA,
and PA
The basic knowledge of where a rare species presently occurs is a critical first piece of information
necessary to conserve that species
17 Pollination and Crop Security
Even as bees decline, crop acreage requiring bee pollination grows. From the 1960s we’ve had a 3
fold increase in crop acres needing pollinators. This parallels world population growth more than
doubling. So, the need for habitat to support native pollinators is becoming even more important.
18 The Economic Value of Native Bees
Native bees contribute much more than this very conservative estimate. We just don’t have
economic data over the years on native bee contributions like we do for honey bees, because
their services are basically free.
19 Native Bee Diversity in Agriculture
But, we do know they contribute tremendously, with a huge diversity of bees visiting crop flowers.
20 Benefits of Native Bees in Crops
Native bees are very efficient: active earlier & later in the day, collect both pollen & nectar (honey
bee forages usually specialize, collecting only pollen or nectar on a given trip), and they buzz
pollinate (important for heath and nightshade family, and something honey bees can’t do.
Most of these native species are solitary, so they collect nectar and pollen every trip for their own
nutrition and to provision their young.
21 Native Bee Crop Specialists
Squash bees are cucurbit pollen specialists. That means they depend on pollen from only cucurbits
(squash, melon, cucumber, watermelon), though they may collect nectar from other sources.
They, along with bumble bees, have usually finished pollinating squash (they start work before
dawn) by the time honey bees and bees arrive in mid to late morning. The males sleep in flowers
overnight since they do not have nests.
22 Buzz Pollination by Native Bees
Most people don’t think of tomatoes needing pollinators, but with native bees they produce
significantly more fruit. Honey bees don’t visit these flowers because they don’t provide nectar,
and the pollen is buried in deep pores inside anthers that need to be shaken at a particular
frequency (buzz pollinated) to be released. Bumble bees and most other solitary native species
will buzz (vibrate) these flowers. See the white pollen landing on the tiny belly of that sweat bee?
You can see buzz pollination on video clips in YouTube (search “adamson and pollination” within

4. the YouTube site).
23 Native Bee Diversity in North America
There is a tremendous diversity of native bees, about 4000 in North America, and about 500 here
in Virginia. Almost twenty kinds of bumble bees in VA.
24 Lepidoptera Diversity in North America
The diversity of butterflies and moths is even greater, with 700 spp of butterflies and 13,000 spp
of moths.
25 Best Way to Support Pollinators
The best way we can support pollinators is by providing habitat, protecting nesting sites, and
protecting them from pesticides. This habitat is also tremendously beneficial for birds and other
wildlife. While in the past we generally promoted planting native warm season grasslands with a
few forbs, for pollinators, the ratio of forbs increases. Forbs have always been considered
important parts of natural meadows, but seeds can be more expensive and it’s harder to
determine appropriate quantities. The next couple slides we’ll look at the nesting habits of native
bees, to understand their habitat needs.
Native bees already are playing an important role in crop production, and that role can be
enhanced through the creation of additional farm habitat and the cautious use of pesticides.
There is also unprecedented support for pollinator conservation among agencies like the NRCS
that is now available to farmers and other land managers.
26 3 Broad Groups (Different Nesting Habits)
We think about bees based on their biology/nesting behavior because it’s important for habitat
management. Our native bees can be divided into three broad categories: solitary ground-
nesting, and solitary wood or tunnel-nesting bees, and our one group of native social bees, the
bumble bees.
27 Life Cycle of a Bumble Bee Colony
Unlike honey bees which exist in perennial colonies, bumble bees form annual colonies formed in
the spring by a solitary queen. This comparison is similar to that of a perennial plant vs. an annual
one. In the life cycle diagram above, the yellow bee is the queen. After raising her initial brood,
they take over the foraging and nest construction duties, and the queen stays inside the nest
laying eggs. Late in the season the colony will raise new queens which leave the nest and
hibernate in leaf litter of loose soil alone over the winter. The old queen and the old colony dies in
the fall.
28 Bumble Bees, Bombus spp.
A single BB queen starts her colony in spring, having mated the previous fall and overwintered in
safe place under ground or in a crevice. She searches for abandoned mice nests, and Jolie Dollar
of Xerces says that adding mice urine to a manmade nest increases the likelihood the nest will be
used by a BB rather than a snake, as my boss Eric Mader tells me is the more likely inhabitant. The
best way to support BBs, besides providing nectar and pollen sources, is to leave unmown areas
and conserve brush piles, eg good mouse habitat.
29 Ground-Nesting Solitary Bees
The vast majority of our native bee spp are ground-nesting. Their nest holes look very similar to
groundnesting beetle holes. If it’s the season when they are active, you only have to wait briefly
before a female returns with nectar and pollen. But many spp are active only a few weeks of the
year.
30 Lifecycle of Solitary Bees
When we talk about “solitary” bees, this is what we mean, the majority of our native bee species
life solitary life cycles, where each female constructs individual nest cells, such as this excavated

5. mining bee nest, provisions it with pollen and nectar, and lays a single egg in that cell. After
hatching the developing bee larva consumes the food provision, then goes through several
developmental stages before emerging as a new adult to repeat the cycle.
After laying the egg, the female closes off the nest cell and there is no interaction between the
mother bee and her offspring, nor is there any cooperation in building or protecting the nest.
There is no caste system with a queen, workers, and drones. Each female is a single mother.
31 Cavity or Tunnel Nesting Solitary Bees
About 30% of our native bees nest as solitary individuals in wood tunnels, usually hollow stems, or
the abandoned beetle borer holes found in dead trees, or stumps. While some can chew cavities
with their jaws like carpenter bees, many depend on beetles for their young. So dead wood and
boring insects, two things we tend to want to get rid of, are really important for these bees.
Plants with pithy stems, like sumac, blackberry, elderberry, are also really important nesting sites.
32 Tunnel Nesting Bees
The life cycle of these solitary tunnel-nesting bees is similar to that of solitary ground-nesting
bees, however the brood cells are typically constructed in a linear arrangement separated by a
series of mud or leaf partitions. Many people have heard of mason bees and leafcutter bees, both
are examples of tunnel-nesting solitary bees.
33 Lepidoptera Food Needs
Butterfly caterpillars have a narrow range of plants they can use as host plants, while adults can
feed on a variety of plants for nectar.
34 Lepidoptera Overwintering Strategies
Each species has its own strategy to overwinter as an egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, or adult (migrant).
Examples: caterpillars hibernate in rolled leaves on ground, in soil at base of host plant, under
loose tree bark…
35 Upland Bird Habitat Needs
Warm season native bunch grasses and wildflowers provide food and shelter directly and by
supporting diverse insects (great sources of protein). Protect during nesting season! Don’t mow or
burn. If you do disturb, try not to disturb any more than 1/3 of the area at any given time.
36- Virginia Quail Initiative (follow slide captions)
56
57 Diverse Habitat is Best
Diverse habitat supports greater diversity of insects. Although greater diversity is generally good,
some night blooming species such as primrose may attract pest moths more than beneficials.
58 Pollen and Nectar Through the Growing Season
Though the species composition may change through the season, there are bees and other insects
needing forage throughout the growing season. When installing new habitat, you may want to
inventory your existing resources and focus on supplement those areas (in space and time) with
the least abundance or diversity of blooms.
59 Bloom Time Succession
For Farm Bill pollinator habitat, you must include at least 3 species for each season in order to
receive financial assistance. Otherwise, supplement times with least blooms.
60 Distance Matters
Bees and birds use energy looking for resources to feed their young. The closer the resources, the
more successful their nesting is likely to be.
Floral Diversity
Insect diversity increases with plant diversity. Though we are focusing on meadow habitat,
remember shrubs and trees within the landscape also provide diversity, and may bloom early in

6. the season when fewer perennial wildflowers are available.
62 Native Plants Support Greater Diversity
Though bees and other wildlife do use non-native plants, studies have found that native bees will
generally choose native above non-natives. Doug Tallamy’s work on caterpillars found huge
differences in the use of natives vs non-natives, even within the same genus. While birds are
known to spread many invasive shrubs, so obviously like the fruit, we know the longterm and
ecosystemwide problems associated with invasive species. For other beneficial insects, we know
very little about specific habitat interactions, but providing nectar sources has been found to
greatly improve biological control of many pest species, including stink bugs.
63 Shelter for Bumble Bees
Bumble bees need unmown areas and bunch grasses, habitat that would be ideal for mice. This is
also excellent for groundnesting birds and other small mammals.
64 Shelter for Cavity-Nesting Bees
Probably one of the main reasons snags are good for birds is that so many insects live in dead
wood, providing food. Hopefully, some of the bees are too far inside to be reached…
65 Shelter for Ground-Nesting Solitary Bees
The most diverse genus of groundnesting bees is Andrena, mining or digger bees, most of which
are active in early spring. Though they are solitary bees, only a few places provide the well
drained soil they need for nesting, so many aggregate their nests. Johnson Elementary School in
Charlottesville has a similar landscape in spring, with bees that children can pick up without any
aggressive reactions since they are solitary, not defending a colony with stores of honey like
honey bees. [Sabin Elementary School: Portland, Oregon]
66 Protect Ground-Nesting Bees: Avoid DeepTilling
In the east, groundnests may go a few feet deep, so surface tilling (of 6” or so) will leave much of
the nest in tact, but avoiding tiling is best. Out west, nests may be much deeper, 6-10’ or more.
67 Protection from Pesticides Benefits All Wildlife
Though many insects and birds are mobile, direct contact and residual effects of pesticides can be
lethal.
68 Avoid Pesticide Poisoning
Most farmers know how to avoid poisoning honey bees, so a hidden benefit of colonies on farms
can be increased care in spraying.
69 Organic-Approved ≠ Safe
Some organic-approved pesticides should be completely avoided wherever pollinators are a
concern. Others are relatively safe, as long as they do not directly contact pollinators. They may
not be dangerous for birds or mammals, but are dangerous for most insects.
70 Establishing New Habitat
When you’re planting new habitat, you will be providing not only pollen and nectar sources, but
shelter for a huge diversity of insects and other wildlife. These male sweat bees don’t have nests
to hunker down in, so are taking shelter in the protection of wingstem.
71 Establishing New Habitat: Keys to Success
The 6 Critical Elements:
1.Remove ALL perennial weeds prior to planting
2.Do not disturb dormant weed seed
3.Make a clean seed bed/planting area
4. Use appropriate planting technology for the site
5. Plant perennial seed in the fall
6. Manage annual and biennial weeds for two years after planting

7. 72 Seeding: Remove ALL Perennial Weeds
Conventional Farms:
Mow site and follow with Glyphosate fallow for a full growing season
Round-up ready soybeans (combo cover and herbicide)
Organic Farms:
Shallow cultivation followed with a smother crop (at least 1 year)
Buckwheat
Sudan grass
Solarization (clear plastic):
At least 1 year
Horticultural vinegar (expensive)
Flame weeding
73 Solarization (A Full Year is Best!)
• UV stabilized plastic
• Mow closely pre-install
• Install following rain or water just prior to install
• Dig in edges
• Stabilize as needed
Care in keeping tear free and/or repairing quickly
74 Create a Clean Seed Bed
Seed Bed Preparation:
• Burn or rake off debris, or very light disk or harrow to smooth surface (should be firm, not
fluffy)
Do not to bring more weed seeds to the surface!
75 Appropriate Planting Technology
Native Seed Drills:
• Multiple seed sizes
• Plant directly in stubble (no till)
• Tye, Truax, Great Plains (common manufacturers)
Brillion Drop Seeders:
• Made for sowing turf and pasture grasses, also alfalfa and clover
• Works with native seed (change seed box agitators)
Requires smooth, cultivated seed bed (not like this photo!)
76 Seeding: Appropriate Technology
Hand Seeding/Broadcasters
• Mix seed with sand for even distribution
• Requires clean, exposed seed bed
Seed on soil surface – Do not bury the seed
77 Appropriate Planting Technology
Transplants:
• Supplemental irrigation
• Animal guards
• Mechanical transplanters
• Tree planters
• Vegetable transplanters
78 Seeding: Post Planting
Post Seeding:

8. • Roll with cultipacker, lawn roller
• Mow perennial seeded areas during the first year (before annual weeds produce seed)
79 Establishing New Habitat: Post-Planting
Post Seeding: Mow perennial seeded areas first and second year, before annual and biennial
weeds produce seed
• Mow when between 10–12” to 6–8” (as often as needed) to let light reach new seedlings
w/o smothering
80 • The Finished Product!
81 Managing Established Pollinator Habitat
Post-planting Weed Control:
• Mowing and spot-weeding
Maintaining Early Successional Habitat:
• Rotational mowing, burning, grazing, brush cutting (no more than 1/3 per year)
Other:
• Mulching shrubs, deer fencing, vole cages
82 Long-Term Habitat Management: Limit Disturbance
Mowing, grazing, burning, disking are best at infrequent intervals
• Disturbance to no more than 1/3 of habitat area each year
• Time management for when most effective against target, or during dormant season
Early successional habitat is ideal; too much disturbance favors grasses over forbs
83 Manage warm season grasses with prescribed burning
84 Benefits of Prescribed Fire
• Reduces THATCH between the grass clumps
• Increases nutritional value of vegetation
• Promotes the growth of beneficial forbs
• Controls woody competition
85 Forb + Grass vs Grass Only Plantings
• One other thing to keep in mind when planting for pollinators is that most folks who have
been working in wildlife habitat conservation have been planting grasslands for birds and
other wildlife. They have standard protocols for grasses, with set lbs per acre, and tried
and true methods for success, relatively even costs. But with plantings that are mostly
forbs (herbaceous perennial wildflowers), you need to start thinking in terms of seeds per
square foot.
86 Forb vs Grass Plantings
That’s because the number of seeds/lb is so variable with forbs, along with the prices.
• Also, grassland plantings use pre-emergent herbicides developed to kill broadleaf weeds,
and so they also are lethal for most forb seeds.
87 Seed Calculator Example
To keep costs lower and ensure enough seeds for successful planting, use a seed calculator. You
can contact the NRCS, the Xerces Society, or seed suppliers for help with coming up with a good
mix.
88 Seeding Rates to Help Keep Costs Reasonable
For successful meadow plantings, we recommend about 25-25 s/s ft when using a drill and 40-60
when broadcast.
89 Riparian Restoration
Quote from Williams: “Restored riparian habitats supported communities of native bees with
richness and abundance equal to that found in nearby remnants of riparian habitat. Thus, restored

9. sites appear fully capable of supporting diverse bee communities during the process of
restoration. Despite similar species richness however the compositions of the bee communities at
restored sites were distinct from those at remnant riparian habitats. Thus, it is less clear that the
restoration of structural vegetation and natural habitat successfully restores native bees from the
reference riparian habitats.”
90 Invasive Plant Removal
Fiedler et al found that plant, bee and butterfly diversity lower in fens invaded by glossy
buckthorn. Fens where buckthorn was removed had increased pollinator richness and
abundance.
Removal of privet in Georgia resulted in bee communities similar to non-invaded forests.
91 Gardens & Parks
Increasing forage wherever possible will benefit bees and other wildlife.
92 2008 Farm Bill Pollinator Habitat Provisions
The 2008 Farm Bill made pollinators a priority for all USDA programs. We’re still waiting to see the
next Farm Bill, but it will likely continue to support pollinator and other beneficial insect habitat
that is also fantastic for birds and other wildlife.
93 Farms: Soil, Water, & Wildlife
Here is a sample of NRCS farm planning. Farmers should contact their local NRCS office to meet
with their NRCS District Conservationist.
94 USDA NRCS: Tree & Shrub Establishment/Hedgerow
Plant flowering shrubs that bloom in succession.
Design for multiple benefits, such as wildlife, IPM, visual screen, aesthetics, and erosion control.
95 USDA NRCS: Conservation Cover
Cover for erodible slopes
Permanent vegetation on highly erodible sites
96 USDA NRCS: Integrated Pest Management
• Protecting pollinators from pesticides
Establishing habitat for other beneficial insects
97 USDA NRCS: Field Border
• Can include a diverse mix of native and lower cost non-native plants or native local
ecotype materials.
98 Roadside Habitat
Multiple benefits of native pollinator habitat on roadsides.
• Provides habitat for pollinators and songbirds
• Helps to lower maintenance costs
• Vegetation can act as a snow fence in winter
• Aesthetically pleasing, reduces driver fatigue
The biggest concern for many people is deer, but evidence indicates that deer are not any more
abundant in planted roadsides than mown or weedy roadsides, and in fact may prefer mown
roadsides because they prefer to eat tender new growth.
99 Additional Resources
100 Further Information: Native Plant Database
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has a set of special lists for bees and butterflies. From
the main page, click on the blue map.
101 Further Information: Native Plant Database
Below the map is a list of special collections. If you click on them, you can then narrow the
dataset to state, etc.

10. 102 Especially for Bumble Bees
For bumble bees, Conserving Bumble Bees is available on the Xerces website as a free .pdf.
103 Further Information: NRCS Resources
For specific information about the new Farm Bill supports for pollinator conservation, your first
point of contact should be your local NRCS service center. Nationwide the NRCS is conducting staff
training and developing new guidelines to assist farmers in developing on-farm pollinator habitat.
104 Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries
105 Further Information: The Xerces Society
All of these publications are available free from the Xerces website, which includes much more
info on other invertebrates, including a new migratory dragonfly citizen science project.
106 Further Information: Resource Center
Finally, many additional materials are available from the Xerces Society. Among these are fact
sheets on the role of native pollinators, artificial nest construction and management guidelines,
farm management booklets, and links to various regional resources. Most Xerces Society
publications are available as free downloads on our website.
107 Further Information: Publications
Attracting Native Pollinators is a terrific resource, with info about all sorts of pollinators, habitat
establishment, plants, etc.
108 Take Home Message
Wildflower-rich habitats support beneficial insects & other wildlife
Ensure
• Diverse forage & nesting sites
Management for insect diversity
109 Thank you!
110 The Xerces Society
Since 1971, the Society has worked to protect wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates
and their habitat.
Xerces blue butterfly (Glaucopsychexerces), the first U.S. butterfly to go extinct due to human
activities.
111 Questions? Comments?