[Pollinator] Fw: Internet Catches Updated Butterfly and Moth Website

[Elizabeth A Sellers]

Cheers, Liz

Elizabeth Sellers

Biological Informatics Program, Core Science Systems
United States Geological Survey
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Mail Stop 302
Reston, VA 20192  USA
Ph 703.648.4385 | Fax 703.648.4224 | esellers at usgs.gov
----- Forwarded by Elizabeth A Sellers/BRD/USGS/DOI on 03/08/2011 04:49 PM 
-----

This release can be found in the USGS Newsroom at: 
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2717. 


News Release 



March 4, 2011 


Kelly Lotts 
360-305-8822 
lotts at montana.edu 
Jen Carlino 
303-202-4260 
jcarlino at usgs.gov 
Ron Sepic 
703-648-4218 
ron_sepic at usgs.gov 





Internet Catches Updated Butterfly and Moth Website 

Why should we care about butterflies and moths? Thanks to butterflies, 
bees, birds, and other animal pollinators, the world's flowering plants 
are able to reproduce and bear fruit. That very basic capability is at the 
root of many of the foods we eat. And, not least, pollination adds to the 
beauty we see around us. 
Yet today, there is evidence of alarming pollinator population declines 
worldwide. Fortunately, science investigators of this crucial issue can 
use data collected and organized in the Butterflies and Moths of North 
America (BAMONA) database to monitor the health of our butterfly and moth 
population. 
Backed by more than 287,000 verified sighting records and 3,239 images 
that describe 4,638 species, BAMONA is committed to collecting and 
providing access to quality-controlled data about butterflies and moths of 
North America. Dedicated volunteer coordinators, including national and 
internationally recognized Lepidoptera experts, verify each record. The 
goal is to fill the needs of scientists and nature observers by bringing 
verified occurrence and life history data into one accessible location. 
To serve its broad range of users even better, BAMONA recently launched 
its re-tooled website. The site was developed at Montana State University 
(MSU) under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 
National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Network. 
BAMONA?s latest innovations are aimed at improving technologies for both 
data collection and data dissemination. Users can now submit records ? 
which typically include a photograph ? via the site?s new user submission 
form, replacing an outdated submission process that required multiple 
e-mails with spreadsheet attachments.  As for data dissemination, verified 
records are now immediately available on the site?s home page. New, 
interactive Google-based maps enable the display of any verified sighting, 
including Canadian locations. Visitors can now zoom in or out and click on 
dots pin-pointing sighting locations on interactive maps, and see the 
details of each sighting record. All these features were not available 
previously. 
For more information, go to www.butterfliesandmoths.org. 

USGS provides science for a changing world. Visit USGS.gov, and follow us 
on Twitter @USGS and our other social media channels.
Subscribe to our news releases via e-mail, RSS or Twitter. 
Links and contacts within this release are valid at the time of 
publication. 
###

  
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