Mason bee (Hoplitis fulgida) - Dr. Jessica Rykken, NPS

OPAS Program: Insects in the Olympics
Presenter: CJ Urnes, Olympic National Park
February 19, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
Rainshadow Hall, Dungeness River Nature Center
Free to attend.

CJ Urnes

Olympic Peninsula insects are truly magnificent, with fascinating distributions and an enormous array of adaptations. In many cases they are more spectacular than our most colorful local birds. Despite their beauty, ecological importance, and vulnerability, only a handful of studies have examined the insects of the Olympic Peninsula. For most of them, little is known about where they live, when they are active, and what they eat—and who eats them.

We will learn about some of the most amazing local insects and discuss a framework anyone can use to identify insects around them. CJ will discuss some charismatic local insects, how to use iNaturalist to identify and catalog insects, and his own research on insects within Olympic National Park. Please bring photographs of insects you have taken; CJ can help you identify them after the talk.

Carter (CJ) Urnes is a field biologist and ecologist from Port Angeles.
He started working in ONP in 2011 and completed a Masters in Marine
Science at WWU in 2021. He has studied many organisms including sea
stars, songbirds, salmon and butterflies. He is working on a book about
historical ecological changes in our area.