GOINGS ON : Museum Talk to Focus on Monarch Mysteries : Lecturer will discuss area sites where the butterflies alight. Also coming up are a play on influential women and a travel film series.

When talking butterflies, most folks focus on the majestic monarchs.

Those beautiful insects will certainly be the topic of conversation tonight at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, when Adrian Wenner, professor emeritus at UC Santa Barbara, presents “Mysteries of the Monarchs.”

Wenner will look at the monarch butterfly population in the Santa Barbara area, with particular attention to their aggregation sites in the region, and on the milkweed plant leaves upon which they lay their eggs.

The illustrated lecture will begin at 7 p.m. Admission is $2. The museum is at 2559 Puesta del Sol Road. Call 682-4711 for more information.

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Josephine Baker, Georgia O’ Keefe, Isadora Duncan, Golda Meir, Molly Maguire. The lives of these and a half dozen more of history’s most influential American women will be chronicled in musical vignettes in the Santa Barbara Contemporary Music Theatre’s production of “An American Cantata.” The show will run Friday through Sunday at the Lobero Theatre.

The musical, written by Elaine Kendall, is based on “To Feed Their Hopes,” Santa Barbara writer John Sanford’s look at influential American women. The score for the production, created by Dennis Poore, will venture into American history as well, with a bit of folk, jazz, blues, swing and contemporary all mixed together.

Show times are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 (adults), $16 (seniors and students). Call 963-0761. The Lobero is at 33 E. Canon Perdido St.

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Conductor Gisele Ben-Dor and the Santa Barbara Symphony will be back in action with concerts this weekend at the Arlington Theater. The program will include Brahms’ “Symphony No. 1” and Copland’s “Outdoor Overture.” Concert times are Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m. General admission is $20 to $34 on Saturday, $14 to $25 on Sunday, with discounts available for students and seniors. Call 963-4408 or 965-6596. The Arlington is at 1317 State St.

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UCSB’s “Celebrating American Musical Traditions on Film” series will get under way Saturday at the campus’ Isla Vista Theater, with a three-film “Jazz/Gospel Marathon” by music documentarian Robert Mugge.

First up will be “Black Wax: Gil Scott-Heron, a look at the politically vocal poet, singer and songwriter. Show time is 2 p.m. Next on the screen is “Gospel According to Al Green.” The film, shot at Green’s Full Gospel Tabernacle Church in Memphis, Tenn., shows how the 1970s soul music star turned toward religious music and the ministry. Show time is 3:30 p.m.

And finally, “Saxophone Colossus,” a tribute to jazz legend Sonny Rollins, will wrap up the triple bill. This documentary was filmed in two locations--at Opus 40, a sculptured rock quarry in New York, and in Tokyo, where Rollins premiered his “Concerto for Tenor Saxophone and Orchestra.” The film will begin at 5:15 p.m.

General admission to the film fest is $5. Tickets will be available at the door beginning at 1 p.m. The Isla Vista Theater is at the corner of Embarcadero del Norte and Trigo Road. For more information, call 893-3535.

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Back to the Lobero Theatre, where on Wednesday the 7th Annual Lobero Geographic Travel Film Series will kick off with a look at Scotland.

Filmmaker Sherilyn Mentes will be on hand to narrate her lighthearted tour of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and other locales. She’ll provide personal looks at castles, moors and haggis. And of course, it’s a safe bet there will be plenty of bagpipe music to fill everyone’s ears.

The film will be shown at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets, available at the door, are $7 (general), $6 (students). Children ages 8 to 15 are free when accompanied by an adult. The remainder of the season series includes film trips to France, Portugal and Madeira, Indochina and Patagonia. Series tickets are available for $28 and $25. Call 963-0761. The Lobero is at 33 E. Canon Perdido St.