BAMONA's blog

We are sad to report that Ranger Steve Mueller passed away on June 16, 2022.
Ranger Steve was an kind-hearted human being, and his life and contributions are well described by Judy Reed in this story. Ranger Steve was a collaborator of the BAMONA project and served as a reviewer from the outset of the project. He verified more than 8,000 records for us, but his knowledge and contributions can't be quantified by this number.We will be missed by many.

Thank you submitters and coordinators! BAMONA added 37,841 verified records to the database in 2021, just 136 records shy of the record high in 2020. As of this writing, 13,001 submissions have been verified so far in 2022. Let's keep it up and see if we can make it to 40,000 this year!

In May, BAMONA reached the milestone of over 900,000 verified records in the database. This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of volunteer coordinators and citizen scientists. Thank you!

Here's a complete breakdown of NEW VERIFIED SIGHTINGS ADDED each year for recent years:

Ray E. Stanford had a passion for butterflies and made significant contributions to the field through his publications and collaborations. Stanford was a central figure in the development of paper atlases in collaboration with Paul Opler and Harry Pavulaan in the 1990s. These popular paper atlases documented the presence of butterflies in U.S. counties, and eventually led to early web sites hosted by the USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center (NPWRC). The data complied by the NPWRC are stored in the BAMONA database and appear on the species maps as historical records.

Here at BAMONA, we have partnered with National Moth Week since its inception 10 years ago. We welcome users to submit their moth sightings collected during National Moth Week. Learn about National Moth Week and how to get involved.

As part of a the new Better Common Names Project, the Ecological Society of America has removed the derogatory common name from Lymantria dispar. The offensive common name of "gypsy moth" is a derogatory term for the Romani people. A new common name will be proposed and approved in the future. Read more from the ESA announcement.

Check out today's Opinion piece in The New York Times.

Pollinator Week is an annual event that celebrates pollinators. Mark your calendar for June 21-27, 2021. Learn how to get involved.

We are continually adding photographs of caterpillars to the image gallery. Browse the images and check out the diversity of moth caterpillars and butterfly caterpillars.