How to Count Butterflies

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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

·  Monarch Watch

·  Journey North: Monarch Migration

·  Project Monarch Health

·  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

• Katherine Harmon Courage

  Posted on August 6, 2025

  Katherine Harmon Courage is the executive editor at Nautilus.