PORTLAND, Ore.—A new report released today by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation shows that public education and targeted mosquito management efforts are the best way to both protect communities from mosquito-borne diseases and protect wetland health. Read more

PORTLAND, Ore.— The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation filed a petition today with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeking Endangered Species Act protection for the rusty patched bumble bee. This animal was once very common from the Upper Midwest to the East Coast and was an important pollinator of crops and wildflowers.

PORTLAND, Ore.—A new paper published today in the Natural Areas Journal indicates that bark beetle outbreaks that have turned millions of acres of forests in the Inter-mountain West a noticeable red coloration (from tree death) do not substantially increase the risk of active crown fire in lodgepole pine and spruce forests as commonly assumed.

On October 11, 2012, in response to a petition from the Xerces Society and partners, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to list the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas editha taylori) as an endangered species and designate critical habitat. This butterfly’s native prairie habitat is one of the rarest ecosystems in the U.S., with 90 Read more …

DENVER, Colo. — Responding to a petition from a coalition of conservation groups and scientists the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) today issued a positive 90-day finding for the Arapahoe snowfly (Capnia arapahoe) determining that protection may be warranted and initiating a status review of the species.

In comments to the USDA’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, ten other conservation groups, and several bee scientists have formally asked for protection of wild bumble bees from the threat of disease.

An extensive review of bumble bee studies and surveys from across the U.S. show that three formerly common bumble bee species are experiencing steep declines. The report compiled information from more than three dozen scientists and citizen monitors and found that populations of the rusty-patched, yellowbanded and western bumble bee have all sharply dropped in the last decade.

A new report details how the island marble butterfly is languishing without protection even though it may be on the brink of extinction. The new report lists the island marble as one of ten species that have been named the most in-need of protection under the Endangered Species Act. With a population of less than 2,000 individuals and multiple threats to its survival the island marble is one of the most imperiled butterflies in the U.S.

A coalition of scientists and conservationists filed a petition today requesting that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service extend Endangered Species Act protection to Susan’s purse-making caddisfly (Ochrotrichia susanae).

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) and Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) along with 28 other co-sponsors introduced the Pollinator Habitat Protection Act into the Senate today. This bill allows existing conservation programs to provide enhanced habitat for pollinators.

The recent widespread losses of honey bee colonies from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has received a lot of media coverage.

A new study in the April issue of the journal Bioscience shows that insects provide services worth more than $57 billion to Americans.

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Center for Biological Diversity, Northwest Environmental Defense Center, and Friends of the San Juans yesterday filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Seattle to compel the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the Island Marble butterfly.

A coalition of scientists and conservationists filed a petition today requesting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service extend Endangered Species Act protection to the Jackson Lake, Harney Lake, and Columbia springsnails, three relatives of the Idaho springsnail, which is currently an endangered species.

The Center for Biological Diversity and the Xerces Society today filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Portland, Oregon to compel the US Fish and Wildlife Service to protect seven swallowtail butterfly species as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

A coalition of conservation groups today filed a scientific petition with U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton in Washington DC to list the Sand Mountain blue butterfly (Euphilotes pallescens arenamontana) as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act, and designate critical habitat for its survival, conservation and recovery.

A coalition of conservation and scientific organizations filed a petition today requesting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service protect the Black Hills mountainsnail (read “mountain-snail”) – a declining land snail that exists only in the Black Hills – under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

A coalition of conservation and scientific organizations filed a petition today under the Endangered Species Act requesting federal protection for the Dakota skipper, an imperiled prairie butterfly, and its endangered grassland habitat under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

With almost one million described species, insects eclipse all other forms of animal life on Earth, not only in sheer numbers, diversity, and biomass, but also in their importance to functioning ecosystems.

In keeping with a legal agreement the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service listed the Carson wandering skipper butterfly as an endangered species on August 7, 2002. The species was listed on a temporary, emergency basis in November 2001.