Please bring your ideas and food items to share to: 900 Sherman Hollow Rd, Huntington, VT. The phone number there is (802) 434-2167
If you have an agenda item please let Michael Sabourin know at mothvet@yahoo.com or (802) 595-0484[c]
This is also an initial solicitation for articles, news items, book reviews, photos, field notes etc. for the Vermont Entomological Society Spring/Summer newsletter!
The VES newsletter deadline is May 7th, 2025. Contact Michael.
Experience Vermont’s butterflies and other insects up close!
Join Vermont Entomological Society naturalists and entomologists for an exploratory stroll on the Birds of Vermont Museum grounds.
Bring binoculars, magnifying glasses, and an insect net if you have one. Pack a lunch if you would like to picnic after the walk. Do bring your water bottle and dress for outdoors.
The school year has started, but that isn’t slowing us down up on Sherman Hollow Road. Check out the fall programs at the Birds of Vermont Museum, sign up for one if you like, or just drop by. We’re open Wednesday – Sunday, 10-4, until Halloween. We’re open by appointment other days and after. The trails are open sunrise to sunset, every day. Libraries have passes, and admission is always free for members (https://birdsofvermont.org/membership/).
Experience Vermont’s butterflies and other insects up close!
Join Vermont Entomological Society naturalists and entomologists for an exploratory stroll on the Birds of Vermont Museum grounds.
Bring binoculars, magnifying glasses, and an insect net if you have one. Pack a lunch if you would like to picnic after the walk. Do bring your water bottle and dress for outdoors.
Free, suggested donation : $5-$10
(Pre-registration is helpful but not required.) Max: 20 people • Masks recommended when indoors.
If it is raining on the day of the walk, please call the Museum (802 434-2167) to see if we have rescheduled; rain date is Sunday, July 9).
Terrific for anyone interested in Vermont’s six-legged creatures.
Check out the Vermont Entomological Society site https://www.vermontinsects.org/ — gorgeous photos and information about the Society.
Experience Vermont’s butterflies and other insects up close!
Join Vermont Entomological Society naturalists and entomologists for an exploratory stroll on the Birds of Vermont Museum grounds.
Bring binoculars, magnifying glasses, and an insect net if you have one. Pack a lunch if you would like to picnic after the walk. Do bring your water bottle and dress for outdoors.
Registration link coming soon.
Max: 15 people • waitlist available
Masks required when indoors. (We will update this listing with any changed COVID-19 precautions as we get closer to the date.)
If it is raining on the day of the walk, please call the Museum (802 434-2167) to see if we have rescheduled; probable rain date Sunday, July 10).
Terrific for anyone interested in Vermont’s six-legged creatures.
Free! (Donations welcome)
Check out the Vermont Entomological Society site https://www.vermontinsects.org/ — gorgeous photos and information about the Society.
What do you think of when you imagine a ladybug (aka lady beetle)? Is it red with black spots? For years, this was the only image that came to mind when I thought about lady beetles. Furthermore, I had no idea how many different lady beetle species exist, and that the only species I was familiar with was the invasive Asian Lady Beetle (Harmonia axyridis)–the species that commonly congregates in people’s homes during winter. In Vermont alone, there are 42 recorded species of lady beetle (35 native and 7 introduced), and we are still discovering species that have not been previously recorded.
Lady beetles come in different sizes, colors, and shapes, ranging from just fractions of a centimeter to nearly a centimeter in length. Some are black with red spots, others are the classic red with black spots, some are orange, yellow, or brown, and some have bars instead of spots or no spots at all. These beetles can be found in all types of habitats, from fields, to forests, shrubland, and swamps, to the garden in your backyard!
Despite differences in appearance and habitat preference, many lady beetles share an important feature: they act as a biological pest control, munching down aphids, plant mites, scale insects, and other soft-bodied pests. Native lady beetles have evolved alongside native pest species, and many synchronize their life cycles to align with their pest of choice. For example, both Hudsonian Ladybirds (Mulsantina hudsonica) and Eye-spotted Lady Beetles (Anatis mali) have evolved to synchronize their life cycles with that of the Balsam Twig Aphid (Mindarus abietinus). This means that the lady beetle larvae are growing when aphid populations are at their peak, giving the beetles an increased chance of survival. Balsam Fir trees also benefit, as the growing lady beetles reduce the pest load on the trees. Other native lady beetle species have begun to associate with invasive pests, like the Twice-stabbed Lady Beetle (Chilocorus stigma) and Beech Bark Scale insects, helping to reduce invasive pest loads on infected trees.
However, many native lady beetle species populations across the country are in decline. These declines are thought to be caused by the introduction of non-native lady beetle species, such as the Asian Lady Beetle, land use change, introduced pathogens, and pesticide use. Introduced lady beetles often grow faster than native lady beetle species, outcompeting them for habitat and food, while also consuming native lady beetle larvae. This may result in pest outbreaks in the future, as some studies indicate that native lady beetle species hunt certain native pests more effectively than introduced lady beetle species, and therefore provide better pest control of these insects.
Vermont appears to be experiencing native lady beetle declines as well. Currently, 12 of Vermont’s native lady beetle species have not been seen in over 40 years. That said, the last full survey of Vermont’s lady beetle fauna was completed in 1976. We don’t know if these 12 missing species have been extirpated or still exist in low numbers, and as well we don’t know what conservation measures may be needed to support potentially-declining native lady beetle populations in Vermont. To answer these questions, the Vermont Atlas of Life team at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies started the Vermont Lady Beetle Atlas. We are calling on volunteer naturalists across the state to join us in our search, which will increase the chances of finding these beetles. Already, volunteer naturalists have rediscovered four of Vermont’s lost lady beetle species, recorded three new species, and doubled the number of research-grade, lady beetle observations uploaded to iNaturalist in our pilot year.
If you would like to help in our lady beetle quest, simply install the free iNaturalist app to your phone (or camera and internet-connected device of choice) and upload pictures of any lady beetle you encounter to the site! Visit the Vermont Lady Beetle Atlas website to find out more ways to get involved and learn more about these fascinating beetles.
Pollinate This! is our art show asking and sometimes answering “How can art explore, examine, and express pollination—metaphorically and otherwise?”
Thirty-four artists and photographers had their work selected for this year’s show. Creators range in age from child to senior, with experience from just starting to established professional. The works are displayed in thematically-linked groupings, and visitors are invited to explore at their own pace, to be inspired, to engage with the images, and to browse through the book of artists’ statements.
Show is open from May 1 to October 31, 2019 • Included with Museum admission
Guest post by Kari Jo Spear, Photographer, Novelist, and Daughter of Bob Spear
“Take a shot in that direction.” My father pointed down toward the brook through some hemlock trees. “Good ruffed grouse territory.”
“Okay,” I said. My job was to take an interesting photo. So I crouched down, trying to get into ruffed grouse mode, going for an eye level perspective. If I was a grouse, I’d lay my eggs right under the trees. Of course, I wasn’t a grouse, and this was another of my father’s crazy attempts to get me into his “carve all the birds in Vermont” project. He thought it would be helpful to have a plastic sleeve hanging from each display case with some facts about the bird and a photo of its nesting habitat. I thought all the leaves and flowers and stuff he was putting in the cases would be enough to clue people in, but he wanted photos, too. Wouldn’t it be nice if I took them?
Well, I liked taking photos, and my father’s fancy Nikon with interchangeable lenses was pretty cool. But nesting habitat was not exactly an exciting subject to photograph. We’d been hiking for hours, and I’d been dutifully taking shots of deciduous trees, evergreens, moss, and even dead stumps. That part wasn’t really so bad. The real problem was that habitat shots had to be taken in the spring when the birds were nesting. The birds needed to take advantage of insects, who were also doing their multiplying thing. Right now, every black fly in Huntington was taking advantage of their favorite food source—me. They didn’t care about my artistic endeavor, they didn’t care that I reeked of insect repellant, and they didn’t care that I was allergic to them. My eyes were going to be puffed shut tomorrow, I knew it.
I am a grouse, I thought. I snapped two more shots down toward the brook, even climbing into the brush to get a nice, curving limb to frame the top.
“Okay,” my father said. “Now I want to go to a farm up the road. There’s a pair of cliff swallows building under the eaves of the barn. We can get barn swallow habitat inside. And all the apple trees are in bloom. They’re real pretty, and they’d be good blue bird habitat.”
Anything to get away from the buggy brook. I swatted my way out of the woods—flies never seemed to bother my father—and scratched my way up the road to an old farm that looked as thought it had been there since the glaciers moved out. I liked the way the buildings nestled into the hillside. Sure enough, there was a small colony of cliff swallows building their funny little jug-like nests under the eaves. I didn’t even ask how my father had known they were there. While he chatted with the farmer, I photographed the eaves, then some rafters inside where some barn swallows were busy irritating the cows, and then I wandered around the apple trees in full bloom and thought about how nice a big bee sting would look right between my puffy eyes. Maybe some poison ivy to set it off. Then I tripped over a branch buried in the new spring grass and landed in a woodchuck hole, twisting my ankle.
My father got the car and drove me home. Fortunately, I wasn’t bleeding—my father was not good with blood—and the camera was okay, so there was no harm done. “An old war horse,” my father said, seeing me looking at it on the seat between us.
I didn’t think he was referring to me. A young warhorse, maybe.
“You may as well keep it,” he added.
“Until next weekend?” I asked, wondering if my ankle would be up to more traipsing around.
He kind of shrugged. “Till whenever. If I need it for something, you can bring it back.”
“Oh,” I said, it slowly sinking in that he’d just given me a really nice camera. On a kind of permanent borrow.
“Might as well take the lenses, too.” I noticed that they were in the back seat. A 300mm lens and a wide angle.
“Thanks,” I said, meaning it.
“It’s a good camera,” he said. And that was that. Then he added, “But we need to get the film developed right away.”
“What’s the rush?”
“Montpelier.”
Right, I thought. The state capital.
“Library,” he added.
“You’re going to carve books next?” I’d believe anything.
He shot me a look. “No. Going to have the carvings there next week.”
“What?”
“There’s an art gallery upstairs in the library,” he said patiently. We’re going to have a big opening. Newspapers will be there.”
I looked at him, wondering how he’d known how to set up something like this. He’d probably enlisted Gale. He didn’t even look nervous. I’d be frantic.
“We’ve got to start getting people interested in the project, you know,” he went on. “Need to find someplace to house them.”
At the rate he was carving, he wasn’t going to have room to breathe in the shop much longer.
“There’ll be a reception. With food.” He looked at me hopefully.
“Of course I’ll be there,” I said. And not just for the food.
“Good,” he said. And then he smiled, just a little. “It’s upstairs. Your ankle will be better by next weekend, right?”
Of course it would be. Who wouldn’t want to get all hot and sweaty lugging bird cases to an upstairs gallery? I heaved a sigh. I’d never figure out how he managed to talk me into getting deeper and deeper in this project of his.
The next morning, I limped into school with my eyes puffed mostly shut, my arms and legs sunburned and dotted with red spots, and my left ankle wrapped up.
“What happened to you?” my homeroom teacher asked. All around us were kids with honorable injuries, acquired by heroically sliding into home plate or after bursting through a finish line. Everyone turned to me, waiting to hear my glorious tale.
I dropped into my desk with a sigh. “Wood chuck hole.”
Everyone’s eyebrows went up.
I nodded wisely like this was a big deal. Lowering my voice, I said, “Okay. Let me tell you guys about… habitat shots.”
Author’s Note: Visitors to the museum will notice that there are no photographs hanging from any of the cases. My father finally realized, as someone had tried to tell him, that people would get the idea where the birds nested from all the leaves and flowers and stuff in the cases. The habitat shot phase passed quickly, but to this day if I take a photo with no apparent subject, my father will look at it, smile a little, and say, “Looks like a habitat shot to me.”
And I still have the camera, tucked away somewhere safe. Permanent borrow: thirty-five years and counting.
Kari Jo and Bob Spear, examining “Habitat Shots” 1981, Photographer unknown
Kari Jo Spear‘s young adult, urban fantasy novels, Under the Willow, and Silent One, are available at Phoenix Books (in Essex and Burlington, Vermont), and on-line at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
The school year has started, but that isn’t slowing us down up on Sherman Hollow Road. Check out the fall programs at the Birds of Vermont Museum, sign up for one if you like, or just drop by. We’re open Wednesday – Sunday, 10-4, until Halloween. We’re open by appointment other days and after. The trails are open sunrise to sunset, every day. Libraries have passes, and admission is always free for members (
Check out our 
However, many native lady beetle species populations across the country are in decline. These declines are thought to be caused by the introduction of non-native lady beetle species, such as the Asian Lady Beetle, land use change, introduced pathogens, and pesticide use. Introduced lady beetles often grow faster than native lady beetle species, outcompeting them for habitat and food, while also consuming native lady beetle larvae. This may result in pest outbreaks in the future, as some studies indicate that native lady beetle species hunt certain native pests more effectively than introduced lady beetle species, and therefore provide better pest control of these insects.
If you would like to help in our lady beetle quest, simply install the free 
