Linda Auld is widely known as the “NOLA Bug Lady,” as she has raised 147 species of butterflies and moths — photographing and studying the life cycles of these insects. For more than 30 years, she has conducted surveys for the North American Butterfly Association.
In 1976, Auld started working at her family business, Barber Laboratories, where she started a learning room to showcase the live butterflies, moths and beetles she was raising. Auld retired in 2022, but she’s busier than ever now, traveling around the state to give talks and presentations about butterfly gardening.
She began “Project: Monarch” in 2014 with a mission to become Louisiana’s milkweed seed distributor and installed butterfly gardens in 17 schools. Now, she is spearheading the renewal of the Frank & Sara Gladney Memorial Garden at the Gloster Arboretum in Gloster, Mississippi.
In December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the monarch butterfly as threatened with extinction under the Endangered Species Act. How can people in Louisiana help with the efforts to protect them? …