Butterfly watching

Butterfly watching is a hobby concerned with the observation and study of butterflies. It also includes the "catch and release" of butterflies. There are clubs, handbooks, checklists, and festivals devoted to the activity.

Monitoring a monarch butterfly

The Canada Day and Fourth of July annual butterfly count, a census of species by butterfly watchers throughout North America, is an example of citizen science.

Equipment used

• Low-power binoculars (7x35, for example), especially close-focus binoculars are helpful
• A butterfly field guide. Not all butterflies are readily identifiable from color photographs. The skippers, for example, are best identified from set specimens.
• A camera (optional)

Locations

A person can watch butterflies almost everywhere but some well-known butterfly-watching areas include Costa Rica, the Amazon Basin, and sub-Saharan Africa.

See also

• Butterfly gardening
• Butterfly field guides by region
• Lepidopterist

References

• D’Amico G., Groppali R. & D’Amico N., 2011. Farfalle diurne pronube e fioriture nettarifere: segnalazioni per la Val Padana interna e indicazioni di profilo conservazionistico (Lepidoptera Hesperioidea, Papilionoidea). Bollettino della Società entomologica Italiana, 143 (3): 111–136.
• Dunkle, S. W. (2000). Dragonflies through binoculars: a field guide to dragonflies of North America. New York: Oxford University. ISBN 0-19-511268-7
• Glassberg, J. (1993). Butterflies through binoculars: a field guide to butterflies in the Boston, New York, Washington region. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507982-5 ISBN 0195079833 (pbk)
• Glassberg, J. (1999). Butterflies through binoculars: the East. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-510668-7
• Glassberg, J. (2001). Butterflies through binoculars: the West : a field guide to the butterflies of western North America. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-510669-5
• Glassberg, J., Minno, M. C., & Calhoun, J. V. (2000). Butterflies through binoculars: Florida. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511249-0
• Groppali R., D'Amico G. & Riccardi C. (2008). "Osservare gli insetti: farfalle e libellule del Parco Adda Sud. Atlante-guida per la fruizione della fauna minore nell'area protetta". Conoscere il Parco (Volume 6), Parco Adda Sud, Lodi, 206 pp. (http://www.parcoaddasud.it/tuttopubblicazioni.htm Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback Machine)

External links

• eButterfly
• North American Butterfly Association (NABA)
• Butterflying to Amazonia
• The Lepidopterists' Society
• Carolina Butterfly Society
• Butterflies of North Carolina
• Massachusetts Butterfly Club (chapter of NABA)
• Butterfly Watching Basics
• The Mulberry Wing - Field notes of the New York City and North Jersey Butterfly Clubs.
• Butterfly Conservation - The main UK organisation.
• NABA South Texas, America's Butterfly Capital (chapter of NABA)
• Butterflying in South Texas, America's Butterfly Capital
• Butterflying in Mexico and Latin America