Liam O'Brien is a San Francisco-based lepidopterist. He writes and illustrates the monthly Flying Pansy column for BayNature.org.
I once spit my dinner across a room. I was watching the local news in the fall of 2008, and the story showed the opening day of the new California Academy of Sciences building. My brains left my body as … Read more
Bay Area lepidopterist Liam O'Brien spent the 2019 City Nature Challenge surveying the biodiversity of Mazatlan at the invitation of Mexican naturalists.
Liam O'Brien went from Broadway actor to butterfly observer ... and then some.
San Francisco tries to change the conditions that once made it famous for butterfly extinction
What most of us call "butterflies" are in fact just the fleeting last life stage of a creature with only one remaining purpose.
Dramatic insect declines argue for more time outdoors with a collector's net, not less, writes lepidopterist Liam O'Brien.
Butterfly experts guard their secret spots like fishermen. When a friend takes Liam O'Brien to his "spot," the writer finds himself in a scene from Nabokov.
How does a Broadway actor become San Francisco's go-to lepidopterist? Liam O'Brien explains.
Monarch butterflies are often found in huge clusters on eucalyptus trees. Why do they seemingly prefer these non-natives?
A San Francisco reader wonders about the bright orange-red butterfly he recently spotted in his backyard.
Independent, nonprofit environmental journalism connecting people with nature in the San Francisco Bay Area.
