Audubon Society to host April program on fireflies and insect decline

Metro Wire Staff

The Aldo Leopold Audubon Society will host a free presentation on fireflies in April.

Dr. Dan Young, Professor of Entomology at UW-Madison, will present “Wisconsin Firefly Ecology: Bringing Insect Decline to Light” on April 21.

Young said there are more than 2,200 species of fireflies in the world and over 170 in North America—with thousands of species yet to be discovered and named.

During his presentation, Young will discuss firefly diversity and natural history in Wisconsin. Young will also discuss the causes, impacts, and possible remediation of global insect decline, using fireflies as an example.

Young received his Ph.D. from Michigan State in 1981 and has been a professor at Madison since 1982, teaching, curating the insect collection, and researching. His area of expertise includes research on insect taxonomy, phylogeny, natural history, and biodiversity with an emphasis on beetles.

He is also the director of the UW-Madison Insect Research Collection, co-chair of the UW Natural History Museums Council, and serves as a liaison between the internationally-recognized Entomological Collections Network and Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections. He has published 103 scientific articles and named 52 new species of insects.

The online presentation will take place on Wednesday, April 21 at 7 p.m. The program is free and open to the public.

To preregister go to www.aldoleopoldaudubon.org and click on the April 21 program button. Or use the Zoom link at https://bit.ly/3lKOCHH.