The New Lebanon Library will conduct a community butterfly release on Thursday, August 9, at 1:30 pm. The release ceremony will include butterfly education, which will be conducted by Lindsay Kuhn of Smoke Ridge Organic Farm in Bloomfield, NY.
During this event, participants will learn to identify host and nectar plants, what monarch butterfly eggs, larvae and pupal forms look like, how to tell a male from a female butterfly and why males have pheromone pouches on their wings. There will be much discussion on butterfly species native to NY, and Kuhn will identify the specimens that patrons have observed. She will have monarch, painted lady, mourning cloak, eastern black swallowtail and red admiral butterflies on hand. At the end of the program the butterflies will be released either individually or as a group.
This event, which is free and open to the public, is appropriate for children, although patrons of all ages are encouraged to attend. To register, please call the Library at 518-794-8844. The Library is located at 550 State Route 20, one quarter mile north of the yellow blinking light at the intersection of Routes 20 and 22.