The State insect of Maryland happens to be endangered in the state. Historically, the species’ distribution in Maryland spanned 15 counties, most of which contained multiple breeding colonies. Today, however, wild colonies are known from only 11 sites in 7 counties. Unfortunately, the checkerspot is not the only species of butterfly in Maryland whose populations are declining or worse yet, have become extirpated (extinct in the state). Fred Paras, president of the Maryland Entomological Society and invertebrate curator for NHSM, will present on those species we used to find a good number of species locally (Balt, Howard, Mont, Carroll, PG, Fred, Charles, Dorchester,, many other counties) and they aren’t around any longer. A few species only very scanty observations if at all.
Fred Paraskevoudakis, President – Maryland Entomological Society. Professor – Natural and Physical Sciences department, vice-president Faculty Senate, Baltimore City Community College (BCCC), Baltimore, MD and NHSM Invertebrates Curator, Malacology. Fred Paras has been teaching primarily Microbiology at BCCC since 1992, but has also taught Environmental Science and Biotechnology courses. He hold two Bachelors from U. of Md., an MS from JHU (Environmental Science) and an MS from Towson (Biology). His passion for insects and natural history began over fifty years ago, and has continually increased throughout his life. He is an ardent traveler, photographer and prodigious collector who has been fortunate to visit many places in the world.
