Title: Bug Hike with Marian Lyman Kirst

District: Beartooth Ranger District

Dates: Saturday, July 1, 2023

Close to: Red Lodge, Livingston

Spots Available: FULL! ACCEPTING WAITLIST!

Description: Bug hikes are similar to wildflower walks but often even slower going — we might not go more than 1/4 mile! Marian’s goal for the day will be to just get folks to slow down and look at their surroundings from some new angles in order to uncover the abundance of mini-beasts that exist in the undergrowth and delve a little into the natural histories of each. She will get participants comfortable with basic field ID for a handful of our most commonly-encountered invertebrates as well as challenge them to some butterfly catch and release. Finally, we will look for interesting insect-plant interactions and talk about this most-important (and highly-evolved) relationship.

Marian is an Entomologist with the Montana Moth Project. Arguably the largest lepidopteran survey ever conducted in the state, one of MMP’s chief goals is to conduct at least one sampling site in each of Montana’s 56 counties (As of now, we have covered 43 of 56 counties and are expecting to hit at least 7 new counties this season). MMP is a project of the Northern Rockies Research & Educational Services, Inc., a grassroots biological research non-profit interested in on-the-ground research on Montana invertebrates and their associated web of organisms, including native birds, bats and plants.

Difficulty: Easy — 2.5 hour, short hike on the Nichols-Palisades Trail.

Meeting time & location: 9:30 a.m. at the Silver Run Ski Trail parking area on the West Fork of Rock Creek