1. Submitting reports through our online reporting form. This feature is currently unavailable. However, a new database and map will soon be installed on our webserver. Once these become available, you will be able to register and enter data directly. We will then provide additional instructions for doing so.

For the time being, please

 2. Submit reports directly by e-mail.
Please send us an e-mail message to mariposa@iastate.edu with the following information:

(There is a sample report at the end of this page.)

Your full name
Your e-mail address
What species you observed
The location where you observed the butterfly

1. Name of U.S. or Mexican state, or Canadian province.

2. You may give the name of a town/city, a park, or other landmark, AND/OR
a ZIP code or postal code, AND/OR
a county or parish name. Also, please give the latitude and longitude of your site if at all possible -- this is more important now that we have an interactive map format. Please use decimal format, for example 41.50 N, not 41.30' N, because our mapping software requires this format. Two decimal place precision is fine, but if you can pinpoint the location more exactly than this, please feel free to do so. A GPS unit or websites such as ACME Mapper will give you four or five-place precision, which are equivalent to about 36 feet (11 meters) and 4 feet (1.1 m) in latitude, respectively.

To find your latitude and longitude, try these sites:

ACME Mapper for anywhere in the world (recommended).

U.S.A.: USGS National Mapping Information Query Form
For additional instructions to find more precise U.S. geographical coordinates from this site, click here.

Canada: Canadian Geographical Names Data Base
Mexico: Heavens Above -- page for Mexico
Central America, Caribbean, anywhere else in the world: Heavens Above

To convert from degrees, minutes, seconds to decimal degrees:
U.S. Federal Communications Commission: DDMMSS / Decimal Degrees Conversions

Date of your sighting (month, day, year)
Type of sighting, that is, whether it was a sighting of

1. First butterfly of the season
2. Migrating individuals (give flight direction, numbers seen, and time period of observation, if possible. If you give distinct times of day, please indicate whether these are in standard or daylight saving time)
3. Presence of the butterfly in your area (give numbers seen, if possible)

Other information that would also be useful:
Weather conditions: Temperature, wind speed, wind direction, type and extent of cloudiness
Any additional comments you might want to provide on the conditions of the sighting.

Royce Bitzer
mariposa@iastate.edu

Species: Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

Ames, Iowa, Iowa State University campus
ZIP code, 50011
Story County
Latitude 41.024 N, Longitude 93.634 W

Date of Sighting: April 22, 2001

Type of Sighting: Migrating individuals

Flight direction, North - northeast, 12 butterflies observed between 12:20 and 12:40 p.m. Central Daylight Time

Weather conditions: Wind, south-southwesterly at 10-15 mph, under mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid- to upper 60s.

This page was added on March 24, 2002 and updated on May 2, 2012.