The University of Arizona Alumnus / Fall 2007
Wings of Hope
Lola May Benton White ’42
by Jennifer Rich
(with contributions from the UA College of Education Director of Communications Ana Luisa Terrazas)
Legend says that when a butterfly flaps its wings, the ripples in the air can be felt all over the world. Thanks to University of Arizona College of Education alum Lola May Benton White ’42, we all can share in that gentle breeze.
White has brought the world of butterflies to students, teachers, nature lovers, conservationists, and gardeners, among others. In fact, she has worked diligently to make the Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata) Arizona’s State Butterfly.
Why this butterfly? According to White, this is a beautiful butterfly that is indeed Western, since it is only found west of the Mississippi. “This butterfly has the colors of the Arizona flag (yellow, red, and blue) and has 14 blue dots to mark the date of February 14, the day in 1912 when Arizona Territory became a state!” White says, enthusiastically.
White has been interested in butterflies since childhood. She grew up in Nogales, where her mother had a beautiful garden with many types of flowers and insects. “We even had flying fireflies at night and, of course, many butterflies during the warm, sunny days,” she says.
White, who also earned a master’s degree in education (Arizona State University, ’46) and an educational doctorate (Utah State University, ’00), became concerned about the mysterious decline of bee populations and wondered, “Will butterflies be able to bear the burden of pollination alone without the bees? Can we cut down on pollutants and increase butterfly gardening?” As a result, she developed a brilliant way to address those questions. “The purpose of having a state butterfly was to focus on the problems that construction, herbicides, and global warming are having on butterfly lives.
Butterflies are second behind bees for plant and tree pollination,” White says.
“I surveyed the well-known lepidopterists in our state. Their choices for state butterfly became the candidates in an election voted on by the citizens (including children) in Arizona. This process brought a lot of attention to butterflies, especially since the president of the senate had judged the effort to be frou-frou. He sent the butterfly bill to four committees. That was meant to be the death knell of the whole idea.
Indignant gardeners and preservationists rushed to call their legislators. Related stories appeared in newspapers and on the radio. Children made speeches in the classrooms and seniors were asking questions. Even a Phoenix TV station set up a voting procedure!
That was more than six years ago. Now, to celebrate the anniversary of the day Governor Jane Dee Hull signed house Bill 2247 on June 11, 2001, making the Two-tailed Swallowtail Arizona’s State Butterfly, White has developed an excellent resource for teachers and others. Butterfly Quest 2007 gives clear information about butterflies and moths, the plants that attract those insects, and important conservation hints in readily accessible digital files. It is written so anyone can make a presentation about butterflies, even with little or no butterfly background. White adds, “It’s more than a series of beautiful butterfly pictures. It’s like having a butterfly presentation available at one’s convenience.”
This isn’t the first high-profile challenge White has undertaken. In 1988, she and her husband, Tom, endowed the Hugh and Dolores (Quintero) Benton Memorial for the UA College of Science (COS) and have been generous donors to the fund ever since.
The endowment has nothing to do with butterflies. Rather, it’s a collection of more than 100,000 marine life and seashell specimens (her mother began the shell collection almost 70 years ago). With interest money earned from the memorial fund, COS graduate students were hired for three years to classify the shells and prepare a 26-page inventory list of the catalogued specimens. Full-color photographs of the shells are posted on the COS Web site (http://cos.arizona.edu) so students anywhere in the world can view the shells.
“You would be surprised to learn how many Arizona pupils have not examined seashells firsthand,” White says. COS then created an outreach program called Marine Discovery, which includes sample kits, using some of the shells, for K-12 students, along with age-appropriate lesson plans.
Western butterflies, seashells in the desert, and Lola White — Arizona’s natural wonders!
For more information on Butterfly Quest 2007, go to http://www.butterflyquest.net/>, or contact White directly at lbwhite1619@cox.net.
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