The butterflies and moths of North America: A database for research, education, and conservation

Butterflies and moths are pollinators that play a crucial role in sustaining biodiversity and agricultural production around the world by enabling plants to reproduce. However, many pollinator species have been declining, partially due to loss of migratory and nectar corridors, and all pollinators are potentially threatened by climate change. Butterfly and moth management and conservation efforts are underway, but limited by information access. Distribution data and information about habitat requirements of even the most common species are scattered in published literature or limited to generalized distribution maps in paper field guides. Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA) is a user-friendly database that seeks to close the information gap by providing access to valuable butterfly and moth distribution data for the region. The BAMONA project is a collaboration between the Big Sky Institute (BSI) at Montana State University, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, and the USGS National Biological Information Infrastructure – Mountain Prairie Information Node (MPIN). More than thirty volunteer state and regional coordinators provide valuable quality control for ongoing data collection by reviewing required photograph submissions, verifying species identification, and submitting occurrence data. Over 215,000 individual records for the United States and Mexico, and nearly 2,800 species accounts, are currently accessible via the BAMONA web site through dynamic distribution maps, regional checklists, and species accounts that are updated daily. Feedback and web analytics indicate that the site is successfully communicating with a wide population that includes professional lepidopterists, teachers, students, and the public. Long term priorities include data download capabilities, incorporation of new datasets, improved identification tools, and finer-scale mapping of individual points for researchers to integrate with mapping and modeling software. Partnerships are central to this endeavor, and MPIN and BSI are eager to explore additional ways to continue this important work.