Plant Identification Hike With Carol
          At the May meeting, SEMBA members were treated to a plant identification hike lead by Carol Clements through Ellsworth Trail in Holliday Nature Preserve across from Nankin Mills.
          Ellsworth Trail was named for the first Wayne County naturalist, Mary Ellsworth.
          Holliday Nature Preserve is over 500 acres from Westland to Canton, named for William P. Holliday, who raised his nephew Arthur Richardson in the area and taught him to love nature.
          When Arthur became a wealthy man he donated the money to Wayne County to purchase the land he learned to love from his uncle for the nature preserve.
          During the plant identification hike Carol pointed out several species of plants, some of which were invasive.  The hike lasted approximately 90 minutes and covered a few sections of the trail.
How many butterfly species are there in the world ?
          A study in 1968 concluded that the 920,000 species of insect then known to exist accounted for 85% of all known animal species on Earth. The insects already known at that time included no less than 300,000 species of Coleoptera ( beetles ), 90,000 Diptera ( flies ), 108,000 Hymenoptera ( bees, wasps and ants ), and 113,000 Lepidoptera ( butterflies & moths ).
          Since then the number of known butterflies and moths has increased dramatically. This is partly because vast areas of formerly inaccessible rainforest have now been surveyed, and new species discovered. Another reason is that advances in taxonomy, phylogenetics and cladistics have led to many taxa that were formerly considered to be subspecies, being "elevated" to full species status.
          In "Butterflies of Mexico & USA" ( Scott, 1992 ) a census estimated that there were approx 14750 butterfly species ( including skippers ) worldwide. In 2007 Hoskins collated data from a number of sources and produced a World Butterfly Census which enumerates 17657 currently known species. The true total will never be known, as many species will become extinct before they are discovered, but is likely to be in the region of 18,000 - 21,000 species.
Next Meeting:

June 20th, 2012
"Good Bug, Bad Bug"

All meetings begin at 7:00 pm. and take place at:

Nankin Mills
33175 Ann Arbor Trail
Westland, Michigan

(unless otherwise noted.)
Butterfly Count

In 2012, SEMBA Members have Raised and Released:
0
Butterflies to date back into the wild.

In 2011, SEMBA Members Raised and released:
1866
Butterflies back into the wild.

If you have Raised and Released Butterflies, We would like to know.  Submit your count today!

Email Count To:
djphantom69@yahoo.com


Just a reminder if you're looking for a United Way agency to make a 2011 contribution towards, consider SEMBA (Southeast Michigan Butterfly Association). We are a non-profit agency. Contributions would be appreciated.
Calendar of Upcoming Events

June 2012

 20th, Meeting, 7:00 pm., Nankin Mills
 "Good Bug, Bad Bug" with Kristine Hahn

July 2012

 18th, Meeting, 7:00 pm., Nankin Mills
 "Maintaining Butterfly Gardens" with Rebecca Paulson and Carolyn Sohoza
Butterfly Enthusiasts
This Site Has Been Visited By:
Butterfly Tagging

In 2011, SEMBA Members tagged and released:
104
Monarch Butterflies back into the wild.