Butterfly enthusiasts of all ages and expert levels are invited to visit the Lilly Tippecanoe Laboratories’ Wildlife Habitat Recreation Area in Lafayette, Indiana for a celebration of butterflies on Saturday, July 18, 2009. The Butterfly Encounter is sponsored by Eli Lilly and held in conjunction with the Department of Entomology at Purdue University. This family-friendly event celebrates the beauty and diversity of Indiana butterflies and no previous butterfly knowledge is necessary. Everyone from the novice to the expert is welcome and encouraged to attend. Professionals will be available to discuss attributes of various species of butterflies and answer questions about their preferred habitats. Resource materials for the event can be found at: http://www.entm.purdue.edu/butterflycount/event.html.

This year a photography workshop will be offered on Saturday morning prior to the event that will in include a brief introductory lecture with some demonstration techniques; this will be followed by a photo shoot and critique of images captured. The workshop will be led by Gene White, an alumnus from the Department of Entomology, who is now a photography consultant specializing in insect images. Anyone interested from the point and shoot novice to the intermediate photographer is encouraged to attend if they are interested in improving the technique.

Schedule for Saturday is as follows:
9:00-12:00, Photography workshop
12:00-1:00, Picnic lunch (provided by the folks at Lilly)
1:00-1:30, Identification tutorial/breaking into groups
1:30-3:30, Counting
3:30-4:30, Tabulation of results

Parking will be available next to the baseball diamond south of Eli Lilly’s main entrance at 1650 Lilly Road in Lafayette. Should inclement weather require the event to be postponed, it will be held on Sunday, July 19; however, there will be no photo workshop offered and the picnic will take place at the end of the event. Participants should plan to meet at the shelter at 1:00 PM should the event take place on Sunday the 19th. Inclement weather inquiries may be directed to (765) 477-4300 on the day of the event.

For more information contact Melissa Shepson (mshepson@purdue.edu or (765-494-0997) or Sarah Wolf (wolfsa@lilly.com or (765) 477-4424]. Please RSVP to Sarah Wolf if you plan to attend the picnic.