June 18–24 is National Pollinator Week and we’re celebrating these wonderful and critical creatures that provide a much needed and under-appreciated service to us and to the natural world. The vast majority of flowering plants on earth need help from pollinators to reproduce; we need pollinators for our food supply and to support healthy ecosystems.
Enjoy these five photos of pollinator butterflies you’re likely to see in Massachusetts and learn what you can do to support pollinators.
Monarch Butterfly © Rachel Bellenoit
Eastern Tailed Blue © Nanci St. George
Baltimore Checkerspot © Brendan Cramphorn
Black Swallowtail © Amy Dahlberg Chu
Pearl Crescents © Kristin Foresto/Mass Audubon