Seed collecting is a hands-on way to learn and care for native plants, plant communities, and the insects that live among them. So who can collect seeds and how do you do it? How do you store the seeds and when is the best time to plant them?

To answer these questions and take a deep dive into seed collection is Eric Lee-Mäder and Stephanie Frischie.

Eric has a background in conservation, commercial horticulture, and the nursery industry. Eric was previously the co-director of the Pollinator Conservation team at Xerces focused on large-scale habitat restoration for bees on farms across the U.S. and Canada, and helped develop seed production for native plants important to pollinators. Eric now works full time co-running his family business, Northwest Meadowscapes Conservation Seed Company.

Stephanie is an Agronomist and Native Plant Materials Specialist at Xerces. Stephanie brings technical expertise on native plant materials, native plants, and plant-insect interactions to her work across conservation agronomy; plant ecology; ecological restoration; and native seed production, use, policy, research, and quality — all to improve the supply and growth of important plant species for restoration of insect habitat.

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Photo: Eric Lee-Mäder/Xerces Society

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

The rusty patched bumble bee is a gorgeous bee, richly colored in yellow and black with a distinctive rusty brown marking on its back. It holds a special place in history: In January 2017, it became the first bee in the continental U.S. to be listed under the Endangered Species Act, and in May of this year, 1.5 million acres of land were designated as critical habitat, the largest area of critical habitat ever declared for an insect.

To tell us the story of how this bumble bee went from unknown to icon are two people who played a central role in the years-long effort, Sarina Jepsen and Rich Hatfield.

Sarina is the Endangered Species Program Director here at Xerces, and has worked on the protection of many different invertebrate species, including bees, butterflies, tiger beetles, fireflies, and freshwater mussels. Sarina co-founded the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission’s Bumblebee Specialist Group, an international network of scientists who aim to evaluate the extinction risk of bumble bees worldwide.

Rich also works at Xerces, where he is a Senior Conservation Biologist on our Endangered Species team and Bumble Bee Conservation Lead, which means he manages all aspects of the Xerces Society’s work on bumble bees. This includes coordinating the Bumble Bee community science projects, including the Bumble Bee Atlas. Rich is also working to understand the threats to bumble bees and actions we can take to protect them, and advocating for their protection.

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Photo: Rich Hatfield / Xerces Society

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

In a previous episode we highlighted the State of the Butterflies report, which found that we are losing butterflies at a rate of 1.3% per year in the contiguous US: more than one-fifth of our butterflies disappeared between 2000 and 2020. Perhaps more alarming, over 40% of assessed species fell in numbers by 50% or more—and two dozen species suffered more than 90% losses. So what can we do to help butterflies?

To give us guidance are butterfly experts, Ray Moranz and Kevin Burls, both of whom you may remember from previous episodes. Ray is a Xerces Pollinator Conservation Specialist and NRCS Partner Biologist based in Oklahoma. He works to conserve pollinators on rangelands in the central U.S. and conducts research on monarch butterfly migration and overwintering in the southeastern U.S. Kevin is a Xerces Society Endangered Species Conservation Biologist based in northern Nevada. His work focuses on protecting the hundreds of butterfly species that inhabit deserts, forests, and grasslands across the western United States.

*Correction: when referencing the book Attracting Beneficial Insects, the correct title is Farming with Native Beneficial Insects: Ecological Pest Control Solutions.

** Correction: When referencing the tool Monarch Plant Finder, the correct name for the tool is Plants for Monarchs.

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Photo: Xerces Society/Nancy Lee Adamson

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.