[Posted by Chuck Almdale, submitted by Jess Morton]

This is a message from Jess Morton, longtime member in numerous capacities of Palos Verdes Audubon Society.

Perhaps you have heard me lament the decline of insect populations during the last few years. It is something I have sensed more than had hard data to support. Our 40 years of Audubon butterfly counts have hinted at this in the last few years, but such an uncontrolled approach cannot be generalized. Well, the data does exist, and I urge you to watch this presentation made by Matt Forister, an expert in the field, who lays out the case in terms that make it likely that even my apprehensions are too rosy. This recording was made of his presentation at a Lorquin Entomological Society meeting a couple of years ago. It’s a doozy!

Link to film

In the talk, you will become acquainted with Professor Art Shapiro’s ongoing fifty-plus year transect of California from the Bay Area through the Central Valley, over the Sierra and into the Great Basin, and come to appreciate what an unremitting dedication to a scientific project can achieve. He is our Humboldt of the Butterflies.
—— Jess