Hunting for butterflies need not go the way of other childhood summertime idyls. With the animals in decline due to a panoply of factors, keeping track of their populations has become increasingly urgent. We recently covered a report that tracked 4.3 million butterfly observations across 90,000 volunteer hours over more than three decades—to reveal a striking pattern.
Which got us wondering how to contribute to butterfly population science. Here are six open community science efforts we found:
· Monarch Larva Monitoring Project
· The Vanessa Butterfly Migration Project
· Journey North: Monarch Migration
· International Monarch Monitoring Blitz
· Find a local one near you, from The North American Butterfly Monitoring Network
We’ll see you out there. 
Lead image: Soho A Studio / Shutterstock
