Community Corner
Monarch Butterfly Lecture and Tour will be at Laurelwood Aug.13
Robert Simpson, a Wayne resident, will talk about butterflies and help attendees search for butterflies.
A lecture and walking tour about Monarch butterflies will be given at Laurlewood Arboretum at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug.13.
Wayne resident Robert Simpson will give the lecture. Raising Monarch butterflies is one of his hobbies.
“It's hard to find a butterfly that is not beautiful but Monarchs stand out for more reasons than their beauty,” Simpson said. “Their life cycle amazes us: from a tiny egg not much larger than a grain of sand to a captivating striped caterpillar to a chrysalis and finally a butterfly.
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"Imagine that simple creature flying all the way to Mexico — not every Monarch — but only one generation of several each year makes the trip from as far away as Canada all the way to Mexico, where it winters and then starts back toward where it was born.”
Simpson will talk about the Monarchs lifecycle and how to grow and harvest milkweed, Monarchs' favorite food. He will also show attendees how to find Monarch eggs and caterpillars and protect them from predators. The group will walk to two areas of Laurelwood Arboretum where milkweed is growing and search for eggs and caterpillars.
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The event costs $15 to attend. FOLA members will be admitted free.
Simpson has lived in Wayne for more than 40 years. He is a member of the Wayne Environmental Commission, a hiker and supervisor of High Mountain Park trails and maintainers for the New York — New Jersey Trail Conference.
The butterfly program is one of a series of educational programs sponsored by Friends of Laurelwood Arboretum (FOLA). Coming up in September is a program about the water cycle.
FOLA is a nonprofit organization that helps preserve and manage the more than 30-acre property in partnership with Wayne Township.
FOLA welcomes new members, volunteers, school groups, students, scouts and people with special skills who would like to be part of this organization.
To learn more, visit the FOLA Web site www.laurelwoodarboretum.org, send an e-mail to info@laurelwoodarboretum.org or call 973-202-9579.
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