BAMONA's blog

Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA) receives awards from time to time, and we are always so busy with day-to-day operations that we forget to mention them to our users, contributors, and coordinators. While it does not include all past awards, we will try to keep the new Awards page up to date in the future. To everyone who supports BAMONA, we want to extend our sincere appreciation. BAMONA would not exist without you. These are your awards too.

National Pollinator Week starts today! Pollinating animals such as bees, birds, butterflies, bats, and beetles provide valuable ecosystem services. Learn how you can get involved in National Pollinator Week and the Pollinator Partnership.

Brookside Gardens (Wheaton, Maryland) is seeking volunteers for its Wings of Fancy live Butterfly and Caterpillar Exhibit, May 4th-September 22nd, 2013. Butterfly Exhibit Volunteers assist staff and visitors inside the exhibit as Flight Attendants, welcome visitors outside the exhibit as Ticket Takers, or give guided tours to groups of school children.

Volunteers must be ages 14 and older, or 11-13 with a parent or guardian. A minimum commitment of 10 shifts is required. Shifts are 9:45a.m.-1:15p.m. and 1:00p.m.-5:00p.m. seven days a week during the exhibit.

Apply online to be a Butterfly Exhibit Volunteer at: www.parksvolunteers.org or call the volunteer desk at 301.962.1429 or email mcp-gardenvolunteer@montgomeryparks.org for more information.

The 18th European Congress of Lepidopterology will be held in Blagoevgrad, SW Bulgaria on July 29 - August 4, 2013. For more information, visit http://www.ecl18.eu/.

Are you ready for National Moth Week? Mark your calendar now for July 20-28, 2013. Plan ahead and register your location. Set up a light, go for a walk, take some photographs, and share your moth observation data with Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA)!

The Southern African Butterfly Red List and Atlas book can now be ordered via its pre-publication offer. All 794 butterfly species and subspecies are illustrated to aid identification, there are distribution maps for all of them, as well as their conservation assessments and red listing. This book presents all the work done during the Southern African Butterfly Conservation Assessment project (SABCA). SABCA was a three-way partnership between the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), the Lepidopterists' Society of Africa and the Animal Demography Unit at the University of Cape Town (Dept. Zoology).

If you'd like to see more details and place an order (or more) for the book, please visit:
http://adu.org.za/sabca_book.php.

Please note: the pre-publication offer ends 31 March and thereafter you will no longer be able to order the book.

The Xerces Society is now accepting applications for two $3,750 awards for research into Lepidoptera conservation.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
The The Joan Mosenthal DeWind Awards are given to students who are engaged in research leading to a university degree related to Lepidoptera conservation and who intend to continue to work in this field. All proposals must be written by the student researcher. Proposed research should have a clear connection to Lepidoptera conservation and must be completed within one year from receiving funds. Applicants may be graduate or undergraduate students; however, please note that all but one awardee, to date, have been pursuing graduate research. Applications from countries outside the United States will be considered but must be written in English and international applicant work cannot involve work in the United States.

For more information, to download a PDF of the submission guidelines, and to read summaries of previous award winning projects, please visit http://www.xerces.org/joan-dewind-award/.

Submission Deadline for 2013 Awards
The submission deadline is Monday, December 31, 2012 at 5:00 PM PDT. Award winners will be announced by March 31, 2013, with the awards given by May 2013.

Some of our BAMONA participants have received an e-mail inviting them to participate in a user survey. Because we have received some inquiries, we want to let you know that it is a valid survey and we do hope you take part in it. If you have trouble when you click the link in the e-mail, you can cut and paste it into your browser. As not all users were sent the survey, we do not want to advertise the link here. Let us know if you have any additional questions! Thank you.

Pacific Northwest Moths is a comprehensive source of information about more than 1,200 species of moths. Drawing from the knowledge of moth experts and specimen records from the region's major insect collections, this site features detailed species accounts, high resolution photographs, and an interactive identification key for every Pacific Northwest moth species within the families Drepanidae, Uraniidae, Lasiocampidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Notodontidae, Erebidae, Euteliidae, Nolidae, and Noctuidae. Explore this site to identify a moth that you have found, or to learn about the amazingly diverse moths of our region. Because the site also works on mobile devices, it serves as an electronic field guide to the region's moths.

Jim Mason's new A Pocket Guide to Common Kansas Butterflies features 61 of the most common butterfly species found in Kansas. The book contains brightly colored pictures and describes the range, flight times, and locations where you can find each species of butterfly. This book is the most recent publication in an ongoing series published by the Great Plains Nature Center. To purchase a copy, send a check (payable to GPNC) for $3 to: Owl's Nest Gift Shop, Great Plains Nature Center, 6232 E. 29th St. North, Wichita, KS 67220.