Wings: Essays on Invertebrate Conservation is published twice each year for Xerces Society members. Each issue features spectacular photos by leading photographers and articles by well-respected scientists and conservationists. Join Xerces today to receive a copy of the latest issue!

Please visit our Wings archive if you would like to purchase past issues.

Contents of the fall 2012 issue: People and Insects

Insects are a vast and diverse group of animals with which we interact every day. Some of these interactions happen out of our daily vision (pollinators visiting crops, for example). Others are more obvious—generations of children have been entranced by the magical flashing of fireflies in the evening sky—but these are still chance encounters. In contrast, a growing number of people actively invite bees and butterflies into their gardens or seek out insects for pleasure. Dragonflies and damselflies have become the center of their own hobby, ode-ing, the insect equivalent of bird watching, and tourists will travel great distances to visit live-flight butterfly houses or experience the spectacle of overwintering monarch butterflies. All of these are explored in this issue of Wings.

This issue can be downloaded as a single PDF file, click here.

• Editorial: Happy Birthday, Silent Spring, by Scott Hoffman Black.
• Life at the Speed of Light, by Eric Mader. Flashing fireflies lighting up summer nights have been an integral part of childhood—and beyond—for generations. Conservationists are becoming concerned that the magic may be dimming.
• Six-Legged Sojourns: Insect-Based Recreation and Tourism, by Raynald Harvey Lemelin. Butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, bees: these might seem unlikely tourist attractions, but insects are at the center of a growing range of recreational interests.
• An Obsession with Odonata, by Celeste Mazzacano. Agile fliers, dragonflies can be found around almost any patch or water. These boldly colored are a joy to watch, and new research into their seasonal movements offers the opportunity for citizen participation.
• Neonicotinoids in Your Garden, by Jennifer Hopwood and Matthew Shepherd. Gardens provide many benefits, from a place for relaxation to habitat for wild creatures. How one cares for a garden, and particularly the nature of any insecticides one may use, can have a great influences its value for wildlife.
• Xerces News, Xerces secures its first $1 million grant; a thank-you to Whole Foods Market and its vendors; bumble bee conservation guidelines; Dragonflies of America: Xerces’ 2013 calendar; presenting migratory dragonfly short courses from coast to coast; and protecting Pacific Northwest butterflies and their habitat.