Jodi Peterson

Associate Editor

One man’s lifelong obsession with butterflies has hatched an immense database now available on the Internet. Art Shapiro, a UC Davis professor, has compiled 34 years of butterfly observations in central California. His site describes brush-foots and metal-marks, skippers and sulfurs, with a wealth of facts, photographs and statistics.

HCN contributor Matt Weiser reports for the Sacramento Bee:

“Butterflies have become very important indicators of global change,” (Shapiro) said. “We want the database to be used by anyone looking to test ideas about biological responses to global change.”

The database has already helped researchers discover that some butterfly species are shifting their ranges upslope in response to climate change (we reported on a similar trend with mammals last year).

And there’s some fun stuff too. Check out the Lepidoteran Detective, a species identification game.