Date: 2025
Primary Contact: James Hung
Research Location: Statewide
OBS Heritage Zoologist, James Hung, and OKC Zoo scientist Emily Geest are searching for butterflies all across the state. Two rare species are of particular concern: the Regal Fritillary and the Arogos Skipper. The monitoring project seeks to gain more data on butterfly species that fly under the radar. Some butterflies are small and less colorful, so data on them is often limited. Student researchers from Hung Pollinator Lab at OU and Wyatt Hoback's Lab at OSU are collaborating to cover different sections of the state. Citizen scientists can contribute data to aid in these research efforts by uploading photos to the Oklahoma Butterfly Atlas iNaturalist project. These butterflies can be tricky to capture, so just try your best to get clear wing photos! If the butterfly is on a flower, it's best to try and capture the plant in the photo too. When uploading photos, tag them with #FindmyButterfly
The research team consist of: Dakota Serra, Allison Fesler, Rodrigo Soares, Zach Burlison, Samuel O'Dell, Izzy Gonzales, Tipton Gentry, Gibson McElhaney, Isreal Lugo, and Amy Buthod.
