Bath-based Kennebec Estuary Land Trust will host a free Zoom lecture on Maine’s insect pollinators at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 17. KELT will welcome back Dr. Ron Butler, one of the leading experts on Maine’s pollinators.

This presentation will be an overview of Maine’s insect pollinators, including bees, wasps, flies, beetles, moths, butterflies and other lesser-known insect groups. While emphasizing native bees, the talk will also cover pollination networks; the roles of geography, season and plant species in determining which insect groups are the most significant pollinators; and the impact of climate change on pollinators. The presentation will conclude with some simple pollinator conservation recommendations and sources for the identification of insect pollinators.

Butler is an animal ecologist and professor emeritus at the University of Maine at Farmington, where he taught courses in zoology, entomology, ecology and conservation biology. While Butler spent the first part of his career conducting research with seabirds in Maine, Newfoundland and Antarctica, for the past several decades his work has focused on ecologically important groups of insects. He helped plan and coordinate several statewide citizen science initiatives, including the Maine Damselfly and Dragonfly Survey, the Maine Butterfly Survey, the Maine Bumble Bee Atlas, and (beginning this spring) the Maine Flower Fly Survey. Butler co-authored “Butterflies of Maine and the Canadian Maritime Provinces,” and he is presently nearing completion of “Damselflies and Dragonflies of Maine and the Canadian Maritime Provinces.”

Participants are welcomed and encouraged to ask questions during the question-and-answer portion of the lecture. Registration is free and required in order to receive the Zoom link for the presentation. For more information and to sign up, visit KELT’s website at kennebecestuary.org/upcoming-events or call 442-8400.