Coming up on Monday, September 12, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., the UW Botanic Gardens is hosting a talk with one of our doctoral candidates, Nate Haan: “Taylor’s Checkerspot: An Endangered Butterfly with an Interesting Diet.”

A member of Professor Jon Bakker’s lab, Nate studies interactions between plants and insects, and his dissertation focuses on the relationship between Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly and its larval host plants. Before beginning his doctoral research, Nate completed a bachelor’s degree in biology at Calvin College, and a master’s in natural resources and environment at the University of Michigan.

His talk will be held in the Douglas Classroom at the Center for Urban Horticulture. It’s free and open to the public, and you can RSVP in advance online, by phone (206.685.8033) or by email (you are also welcome to give a $5 donation at the door to help support educational programs at the UW Botanic Gardens).

About the Talk
Taylor’s checkerspot is an endangered butterfly that occurs only in prairies of the Pacific Northwest. Several agencies and nonprofits are involved in recovery efforts, which include habitat restoration and a captive rearing and release program.

There are several gaps in our knowledge of Taylor’s checkerspot that make recovery efforts difficult; we know especially little about how its caterpillars interact with the various host plants they eat. One of these hosts is a common native paintbrush, another is the federally threatened golden paintbrush, and the third is an invasive exotic weed!

Nate will share photographs and natural history of Taylor’s checkerspot and its host plants, and give an overview of his research projects and findings so far.

Hope you can make it!