We use this blog to share the recent updates to the Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA) database, such as new site features, new sets of photographs, bulk updates of sighting records, and new species accounts. To see recent activity, visit the recently verified sightings and recently shared photographs pages. To subscribe to the blog, click the icon and follow the directions supplied by your internet browser.

BAMONA's blog

PhD student looking for Oeneis melissa specimens

Submitted by BAMONA on Sat, 2012-03-24 12:24

Angela E. Gradish is a PhD student at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada studying the ecology and evolution of Arctic (Oeneis) butterflies. For part of her project, she needs specimens of all North American Oeneis melissa subspecies (except Oeneis melissa semidea on Mt. Washington, New Hampshire). She is looking for people who will be working in or visiting any of the following areas this year that would be willing to collect a few specimens:

Newfoundland/Labrador/northern Quebec/Gaspe along the shores of Hudson Bay Nunavut/Northwest Territories/Yukon/Alaska Rockies Alberta and British Columbia northern British Columbia US Rockies - Nevada, Colorado, northern New Mexico

If you or someone you know may be able to help her, please contact Angela at agradish@uoguelph.ca

2012 Lepidoptera Courses

Submitted by BAMONA on Sat, 2012-03-24 11:26

Two upcoming courses focused on the Lepidoptera.

Moths of California - July 13-15 - An informal introduction for studying and observing moths. Emphasis will be on collecting and processing adult moths and recording observations based on the techniques described in the book, Moths of Western North America. The workshop is recommended for persons interested in moths or those studying insect/plant relationships, or managing biodiversity conservation. Instructors: Powell and Opler

Butterflies of the Sierra Nevada - July 9-13 - Introduction to the natural history and ecology of butterflies. Lectures and slide talks cover the fundamentals of butterfly
biology. We travel (carpool)to a wide variety of local Sierra Nevadan habitats to identify and observe adult butterflies and their behavior, their larvae, and their host plants. Instructors: Opler and Buckner

Reservations and deposits for the workshop and class must be made with J.R. Blair of San Francisco State (jrblair@sfsu.edu).

2012 Annual Meeting of the Lepidopterists' Society and the Societas Europaea Lepidopterologica

Submitted by BAMONA on Sat, 2012-03-24 09:59

the combined 2012 Annual Meeting of the Lepidopterists' Society and the Societas Europaea Lepidopterologica will be hosted by the Denver Museum of Nature & Science from 23 to 29 July 2012. The meeting will take place in an exciting setting in a museum with great exhibits, access to the research collection, 21 field trips (19 of them free of charge), moderately priced accomodation, great food and interesting events. No membership necessary in any of those societies necessary.

For registration and additional information, visit http://www.dmns.org/krell-lab

Please send your suggested talk and poster titles (and abstracts when available) to the program chair, Todd Gilligan, at tgilliga@gmail.com AND copy to lepidopterist@dmns.org

Photographs from RaisingButterflies.org

Submitted by BAMONA on Tue, 2011-12-27 12:22

We are proud to announce the addition of 584 early butterfly life stage photographs to BAMONA. These new images of eggs, larvae, and pupae are a valuable addition to our growing image gallery of early stage photographs of the Lepidoptera. We hope the gallery will help users make identifications or comparisons between related species.

Browse all photographs of butterfly and moth eggs, caterpillars, or pupae.

This fantastic set of photographs were taken by Todd Stout (who maintains RaisingButterflies.org) and were watermarked and added to the database by Leslie Bahn. In addition to the photographs, 122 new sightings of these species were added to the database and are viewable on species pages.

We invite any photographer to submit photographs for the image gallery so we can continue to increase the number of represented species. Learn how.

Mark your calendar for National Moth Week July 23-29, 2012

Submitted by BAMONA on Wed, 2011-11-30 13:02

Mark your calendar now for the first National Moth Week, July 23-29, 2012.

National Moth Week is a celebration of moths and biodiversity. With more than 10,000 species in North America alone, moths offer endless options for study, education, photography and fun. Moths are found everywhere from urban and suburban areas to wild and remote places. The diversity of moths is simply astounding. During National Moth Week attend a Moth Night event, start one, get some friends and neighbors together and check the porch lights, set up a light or bait, or simply educate yourself and read literature about moths. Visit www.nationalmothweek.org to register a moth night or to learn more about activities associated with this event.

Please consider taking photographs and sharing your data with BAMONA. Go to the Get Involved page to learn how to submit your sightings to us.

Caterpillar Photographs Needed

Submitted by BAMONA on Fri, 2011-09-16 14:02

We are working to expand our image gallery by adding new photographs of early life stages: eggs, larvae (caterpillars), and pupae. You can help! If you have submitted a sighting of a caterpillar (or egg or pupa) and it has been accepted, we might consider adding your photograph to the image gallery and species page. Go to our "Share Photographs" page find out how to get your photograph in the image gallery.

We are most interested in photographs of species or instars not already documented in the gallery. Visit the gallery and view all the caterpillar images to see how you can help.

Appalachian Tiger Swallowtail

Submitted by BAMONA on Mon, 2011-09-12 11:25

A recently published paper indicates that the Appalachian Tiger Swallowtail evolved from hybridization of two other types of swallowtails. Learn more.

Mississippi Entomological Museum data

Submitted by BAMONA on Tue, 2011-08-30 09:12

Over 2,300 moth records from the Mississippi Entomological Museum were added to the database for species from families Limacodidae, Zygaenidae, and Megalopygidae.

Connecticut Butterfly Atlas Project

Submitted by BAMONA on Fri, 2011-08-19 13:01

Data collected as part of the Connecticut Butterfly Atlas Project (CBAP) have been added to the Butterflies and Moths of North America database. The CBAP dataset includes 13,246 new verified species occurrence records. Explore the CBAP dataset.

Vermont Butterfly Survey data

Submitted by BAMONA on Wed, 2011-08-17 11:16

The Vermont Butterfly Survey data have been added to the Butterflies and Moths of North America database. This dataset contains 31,636 georeferenced records of butterfly species (and a few charismatic moth species). Thanks to Kent McFarland for spearheading the effort to prepare this dataset for addition to the database.

Explore the dataset, or go to the complete Vermont butterfly checklist.