North Country Caterpillars and Their Butterflies (or Moths) [S-23-26]

Presenter:Mark Erickson, Ray Erickson
Location: SLU: Brown 141-142
Classes: 3 Sessions 1.5 hours
Dates: Mon 1:00 PM 03/20, Wed 03/22, 03/29
Status:

Print Info

This course is intended to illustrate some of the butterflies and moths native to our region with an emphasis on the natural history of their caterpillars. In many cases particular mention of their strategy for avoiding predation will be a theme of discussion. We hope to develop among our audience some appreciation for the remarkable evolution of these endangered organisms as we watch Ray Erickson's beautiful photographs.

Mark Erickson is Chapin Professor Emeritus from the Geology Department at SLU where he taught Invertebrate Paleontology and Paleoecology for 40 years. His pre-college days were spent learning natural history with an emphasis on the evolutionary design of caterpillar defensive strategies. The sphinx moths have been a focus of that curiosity and this group has remained an avocational interest throughout his career.

Ray Erickson is retired from SAS Canada in Toronto where he worked in product distribution. He is a photographer of the natural world whose work was influential in the process of creating the Eno River State Park in North Carolina before moving to the North Country. He has been a board member of the Indian Creek Nature Center in Canton. Ray has conducted a nightly survey of moths of the region for several years documenting them photographically. As a manager of the Johnsonburg Butterfly Garden, he has also photographed many of our Northeastern species of these Lepidoptera.

Cap: 36



Back To Spring 2023 Semester Course List

Contact

SOAR
382 Van Housen Ext.
SUNY Potsdam
44 Pierrepont Ave.
Potsdam, New York 13676

Office hours: 9:00-2:00 - Monday, Wednesday, Friday (hours may vary when SOAR is not in session)

Phone: 315-267-2690

E-Mail: soar@potsdam.edu

Visit our sponsoring institution:
SUNY Potsdam