Butterfly census continues its count

SOUTH Africa’s eighth Butterfly Census Week will be from Saturday 19 October to Sunday 27 October.

This event is organised by the Lepidopterists’ Society of Africa (LepSoc) and follows on the launch of South Africa’s biannual butterfly censuses in 2010, which are held every autumn and spring, in an effort to begin a long-term butterfly monitoring programme for monitoring ecosystem health.

There are about 800 butterfly species and subspecies in the country and about 10 per cent of them are threatened with extinction. Monitoring of the butterflies provides important insights into the conservation of flying jewels. Similar butterfly censuses have already been running for a number of decades in the UK, US and Canada.

Anyone can participate in the Butterfly Census Week (BCW), people can now register their team and registration is free. There are beginner and expert categories. A team needs to decide on a specific area or in your backyard. During census week, all species observed at the selected locality are recorded.

Those results are then submitted to the census coordinator, who collates and summarises all the data.

Results from the first seven censuses have shown that the provinces with most teams taking part have been KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, and no censuses have yet taken place in the Northern Cape. Members of the public from all provinces, especially the Northern Cape, North West and Free State, are encouraged to participate and help gain knowledge on the patterns and trends of butterflies across the entire country.

For more information and to register, people can visit Lepidopterists’ Society of Africa’s website www.lepsoc.org.za or contact the Butterfly Census Week coordinator, Esther Mostert on 084 812 2867 or email to butterflycensus@lepsoc.org.za or estherannamostert@gmail.com.