Butterfly Census.

Post by **jones jones** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 9:34 am

Johannesburg - The eighth butterfly census will start around the country next week, with beginners and experts asked to help count, the Lepidopterists' Society of Africa said on Friday.

The census is held every autumn and spring as part of efforts to start a long-term butterfly monitoring programme, census co-ordinator Esther Mostert said in a statement.

"There are about 800 butterfly species and subspecies in our country, and about 10% of these are threatened with extinction," Mostert said.

"Anyone can take part in the butterfly census week. All they need to do is to register their team."

All species observed by the teams would be noted and counted.

"The results are then submitted to the census co-ordinator, who collects and summarises all the data."

No census has taken place in the Northern Cape.

"Members of the public from all provinces, especially Northern Cape, North West, and Free State are encouraged to take part and help us gain knowledge on the patterns and trends of butterflies across the entire country."

During a census in 2010, up to 160 species were counted in KwaZulu-Natal.

"Some patterns that are emerging show that there are seasonal trends in butterfly numbers, with some being more abundant during spring and others more abundant during autumn," said Mostert.

Butterfly census week takes place from 19 October to 27 October.

Butterfly census next week - South Africa | IOL News | IOL.co.za

tabby · Post by **tabby** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 9:43 am

What a great idea, JJ! I'd love to take part in something like that here but I'm not aware of any sort of official butterfly count although I'm sure there are lots of "off the record" enthusiasts.

Post by **jones jones** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 9:45 am

tabby;1437739 wrote: What a great idea, JJ! I'd love to take part in something like that here but I'm not aware of any sort of official butterfly count although I'm sure there are lots of "off the record" enthusiasts.

Yeah it does sound like a really cool census Tabs!

Post by **Oscar Namechange** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 10:17 am

I took part In a bird census of the UK once...

When It got to the House Sparrows which are now being considered endangered, I was asked to estimate how many visit my garden per day. I filled 729 In the box.

It was actually a guess at 700 but I was In one of my pedantic moods. I thought nothing more of It until I was contacted and told field researchers wished to come to my house and take a look which they did. They agreed the numbers and now I have to fill In a form every damn six months to Inform them of any decline or Increase In numbers...

Census's... be afraid... be very very afraid.

AnneBoleyn · Post by **AnneBoleyn** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 2:02 pm

Is the plural of census "censi"??

Post by **Oscar Namechange** » Sat Oct 12, 2013 2:45 pm

AnneBoleyn;1437752 wrote: Is the plural of census "censi"??

It's actually Censuses

fuzzywuzzy · Post by **fuzzywuzzy** » Tue Oct 15, 2013 2:05 pm

Take a census of this . This is how they swarm at my place. Quite astonishing the first time I saw it.

On one of the Islands in QLD the black and blue ones swarm above an island which makes a huge black cloud.