Insects are possibly the most overlooked and undervalued animals on the planet. Without them, our entire ecosystem would not survive. So we were concerned, a few years ago, to hear that insect populations are in decline, possibly even crashing. According to one study, 40 percent of the world’s …
insects
Raising Awareness About Neonics In Maine
Maine Audubon is working with experts and activists to find avenues to pesticide policy reform. Neonicotinoids, or neonics for short, are some of the most widely used and promoted pesticides on the planet. They kill insects, all of them, and are sprayed from planes, coated on seeds, and …
Tracking an Invasion at Gilsland Farm
All the basic information about the Emerald Ash Borer (Agrilus planipennis) is right there in its name: "emerald" refers to the hue of its iridescent body; "ash" for the family of trees that these jewel beetles feed and lay their eggs on; and "borer" for the tunnels young beetles dig through the …
Bee Engaged on World Bee Day
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee, One clover, and a bee, And revery -Emily Dickinson While waxing poetic certainly romanticizes our beloved bee, here's the hard truth: bee populations are in peril. Extinctions are occurring at unprecedented …
Maine’s Naturalist: Seeing Odd Growths on Plants? They Might Be Galls!
Maine Audubon regularly features posts by guest authors as part of our Maine's Naturalist series. If you'd like to explore contributing a post about Maine wildlife, send an email to media@maineaudubon.org. Today's post is from Polly Haight Frawley, 2019 graduate of the Maine Master Naturalist …
Let plants thrive in July
Happy summer! It's late July, but don't believe the hype about summer being mostly over. Ecologically, there are still three important months left of the growing and blooming season before we get to fall. Each of those months is special and important is its own way. July's focus should be letting …
What is an Insect BioBlitz?
What's one of the best ways to spend a beautiful Saturday in July? Catching “bugs” at Fields Pond! And that's exactly what more than two dozen of us did on Saturday July 13th at the Fields Pond Insect BioBlitz. Armed with nets, magnifying lenses, and clear jars, we documented everything from …
What Are Maine Insects Doing in the Winter?
One of the small consolations of living through a cold, dark Maine winter is that, hey, at least we're not getting bitten by mosquitoes! There are thousands of "bug" species in Maine. You see them all over in the spring and summer -- bees, mosquitoes, flies, and dragonflies zip through the air, …