Caterpillars in Winter in Two Acts

  • Thu, February 19, 7pm - 8pm
  • This event has passed.
Pyrrharctia isabella Caterpillar - Devonian Fossil Gorge - Iowa City

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Lectures & Workshops Open to the Public

Insects are exothermic. External forces control their internal temperatures. So what happens in winter? How do insects make it through to spring? In this very special Must Learn Thursday, we learn from two experts, Dr. Mike Raupp and Dr. Max Ferlauto. Each will share information on the strategies insects employ and what we can do to ensure they survive.

ACT 1: Dr. Mike Raupp, “The Bug Guy,” will give a short recap of banded woolly bears, which can freeze solid, and other strategies insects use for surviving winter

ACT 2: Back in 2022, an aspiring PhD student, Max Ferlauto, presented on the beginning of his research efforts studying “The effects of leaf litter management practices on overwintering insect communities and ecosystem function: Impacts and applications in residential landscapes,” which you can watch here: (https://youtu.be/Fp4sUEQK5NU). Now, as the state entomologist for Maryland, Max is back to give us a full recounting of the dissertation he successfully defended. Learn best practices to help arthropods successfully overwinter.

Mike Raupp is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland and an award-winning author, scholar, and communicator. His professional and extension achievements include more than 250 publications and 1300 presentations. A regular guest on NPR and PBS, Mike has appeared on all major television and radio networks in this country and several abroad. His “Bug of the Week” website, www.bugoftheweek.com, and YouTube channel www.youtube.com/user/BugOfTheWeek demystify insect behavior and natural history to tens of thousands of viewers weekly in more than 200 countries around the world. He has received more than a dozen international, national, and regional awards for his writing, scholarship, and scientific outreach. His most recent book, 26 Things that Bug Me, introduces youngsters to the wonders of insects and natural history, while Managing Insects and Mites on Woody Landscape Plants is a standard for the arboricultural industry.

Every day, in diverse habitats all over Maryland, Max Ferlauto (Ph.D. ’24, entomology) works to protect some of the state’s smallest natural wonders. Many are known for their beauty, some for their creepiness, and others are seldom seen at all. But to Ferlauto, who has served as state entomologist in the Maryland Natural Heritage Service since 2023, Maryland’s rarest insects—whether they creep, crawl, burrow, or fly—are resources worth protecting.

Extra reading on the subject from one of our presenters, Dr. Raupp

Location

Online via Zoom