Learn about mangrove butterflies at "Ding" Darling lecture

COURTESY PHOTO The mangrove skipper is one of the local species of butterflies that will be addressed in the "Ding" Darling lecture on Thursday, Jan. 24. Dee Serage-Century, the landscaping for wildlife educator at SCCF, will talk about native butterflies and how to attract them to your gardens at a special lecture starting at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 24, at the "Ding" Darling Education Center.

"The key to butterfly survival is preserving or planting the host plants their caterpillars eat," says Serage-Century. "The mangrove plant community supports a community of butterflies." Join her to get an up-close view of the life cycle of the mangrove skipper, mangrove buckeye, great Southern white, and Eastern pigmy blue.

Admission is free to the event, which is sponsored by the "Ding" Darling Wildlife Society, the refuge's non-profit "friends" organization, as part of its 12-week Thursday Afternoon Lecture Series. Seating is limited and available on a first-come basis. Future events are listed below.

For more information, or to become a friend of the refuge, call 472-1100 ext. 241 or log on to www.dingdarlingsociety.org.