Milwaukee: A City of Ladies and Dragons

To celebrate Historic Milwaukee’s ladybug and dragonfly themed pop-up collection, join us for this special program! 

Ladybugs and Dragonflies are two of the more iconic invertebrates around.  In fact, even someone who doesn’t know what an invertebrate is probably could draw a Ladybug and a Dragonfly with a crayon and paper.  Thanks to people and organizations working to restore Milwaukee’s natural areas, these groups of insects will hopefully be our urban neighbors for the long haul.  Tim Vargo, Manager of Research and Community Science at the Urban Ecology Center will give a brief natural history of Ladybugs and Dragonflies and their relationship over time with the urban human dwellers of Milwaukee.

This is a virtual program on Zoom. It is free to attend but registration is required.

Check out the Historic Milwaukee Pop-Up

Ladybugs, also known as Ladybirds, have been associated with luck, love, and fertility since medieval times. In western folklore, ladybugs act as a matchmaker, by first landing on a woman before flying to their true love. In English and French folklore, ladybugs are also though to bring healing by taking illnesses away.

Dragonflies are seen as symbols of transformation, change, perseverance, and prosperity. In the past, dragonflies were seen as sinister omens in European folklore. However the positive symbolism of the dragonfly in Chinese and Japanese culture has led to more positive modern views of the dragonfly.