Urban Butterfly Initiative

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Charleston, IL
Urban Butterfly Initiative

Nonprofit org that helps improve biodiversity, enhance lives, and promote science in urban areas

Donations Needed! 100% of all donations go to furthering the mission of our organization: beautifying urban areas and increasing environmental awareness by creating butterfly habitats and working to educate community members about nature and science. To donate via PayPal, Credit Card, Venmo, or Check, please go to: https://www.urbanbutterflies.org/donate

08/30/2026

Have you planned your Butterfly Big Day?

Here are some fun possibilities:

• Plan your route for which areas you are going to visit: natural areas, parks, botanical gardens, pollinator plots, etc.

• Team up with friends and have a fun competition – which group can see the most species?

• Make a list of butterflies you’re likely to see and try to “catch them all!” in photos submitted to iNaturalist!

• Post your iNaturalist results on social media and use the hashtag

Butterfly Big Day is an international event designed for people of all ages to find as many wild butterflies as they can, spread awareness of the importance of butterflies & other pollinators, and learn how we can help their populations.

Participating is easy!

• Just download the free iNaturalist app and sign up for a free account. You can also use a web browser and access the iNaturalist web site (inaturalist.org).

• Take photos of free-living butterflies (not captive or from butterfly houses)

• Submit your photos to iNaturalist. Photos of butterflies submitted anywhere in the world on 12th September will count for Butterfly Big Day! You do not have to be able to identify the butterfly in order for your observations to be useful.

For more information, links to brief iNaturalist tutorial videos, and to find the Butterfly Big Day regional partner in your part of the world, visit www.urbanbutterflies.org/big-day

To see all the Butterfly Big Day submissions, visit the iNaturalist project page during or after the event: www.inaturalist.org/projects/butterfly-big-day-2026

🦋 HAVE FUN BUTTERFLYING! 🦋

08/21/2026

Nine of the many beautiful common buckeyes found during Charleston Butterfly Blitz 2026. Common buckeyes were the 6th most commonly submitted species during the Blitz.

(25 July - 2 Aug 2026, Coles Co., IL)

08/16/2026

Save the Date: 12 Sept 2026!

Join us in celebrating the inaugural annual Butterfly Big Day by helping document butterflies around the world on 12 September 2026.

Butterfly Big Day is an international event designed for people of all ages to find as many wild butterflies as they can, spread awareness of the importance of butterflies & other pollinators, and learn how we can help their populations.

Participating is easy!

•Just download the free iNaturalist app and sign up for a free account. You can also use a web browser and access the iNaturalist web site (inaturalist.org).

•Take photos of free-living butterflies (not captive or from butterfly houses)

•Submit your photos to iNaturalist. Photos of butterflies submitted anywhere in the world on 12th September will count for Butterfly Big Day! You do not have to be able to identify the butterfly in order for your observations to be useful.

For more information, links to brief iNaturalist tutorial videos, and to find the Butterfly Big Day regional partner in your part of the world, visit www.urbanbutterflies.org/big-day

To see all the Butterfly Big Day submissions, visit the iNaturalist project page during or after the event: www.inaturalist.org/projects/butterfly-big-day-2026

08/13/2026

A beautiful zebra swallowtail visiting the wild bergamot at Lafferty Park in Charleston during the Butterfly Blitz.

🐛: Zebra swallowtail caterpillars feed on pawpaw

🦋: Adult zebra swallowtails visit many different flowering plants for nectar, including wild bergamot and butterfly w**d.

(28 July 2026, Coles Co., IL)

08/11/2026

The Panther Prairie Project!

We’re celebrating the start of the Panther Prairie Project at Booth Library on the campus of Eastern Illinois University. Over 3000 ft2 of native prairie plants now exist in beautiful, low maintenance landscaping that supports butterflies and other pollinators, illustrates the ecological heritage of our region, and provides an educational resource for students, faculty, and visitors.

We can’t wait to see the Panther Prairie Project grow to fill other landscaping areas on campus.

This project is a wonderful collaboration between UBI and Booth Library, EIU Facilities (especially the awesome folks with EIU Grounds who did a great job prepping and installing the planting!), and EIU Biological Sciences. Kudos to all for making this first step a successful one!

Visit https://eiu.libguides.com/panther-prairie-project to learn more about the project!

08/07/2026

🦋 Charleston Butterfly Blitz 2026 Report! 🦋

Our 8th annual Blitz was a good one, with 45 participants submitting over 2000 butterfly observations of 44 species from Coles County. Thanks to everyone who helped us keep track of local butterfly populations by submitting observations to iNaturalist! Top observers were colbylikethecheese, mlemmerich, kbulver, teresahdewitt, and tcanfam. Huge thanks to BIKE & HIKE Charleston for once again providing very generous prizes.

If you submitted an observation to iNaturalist for the Blitz but haven’t yet picked up your embroidered, commemorative 2026 Blitz patch, please stop by Bike & Hike Charleston soon (959 18th St., open 10-6 M-F and 9-3 Sat) to pick it up at their desk.

** The image is of all 44 species recorded this year, from the most common (upper left) to the least common (lower right). **

We had some interesting results this year. Most participants felt that overall butterfly numbers were down compared to the past couple of years, but species diversity was still good. Although most of the top 10 submitted species were similar to previous years, pipevine swallowtail was #1 (for the first time since 2023) and spicebush swallowtail was #8, after not having any swallowtail in the top 10 last year. Also more commonly submitted this year were variegated fritillaries, American snouts, silvery checkerspots, and little yellows. Much less common this year were cabbage whites, black swallowtails, tawny-edged skippers, and Peck’s skippers, with no Peck’s being submitted at all.

Unusual finds included checkered white – the first time the species has been found during our Blitz – and a red-banded hairstreak. This is the 3rd year in a row for red-banded hairstreaks, which are a southern species that our Blitz results indicate may be establishing a population in our area.

For complete results, visit the iNaturalist page for the Blitz:
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/charleston-butterfly-blitz-2026

08/01/2026

This checkered white is the find of the Blitz so far! iNaturalist users parksisters & teresahdewitt found this individual at the Decker Springs UBI butterfly hotspot on Monday.

Checkered whites are an unusual species in Coles County; most years we are lucky to see one or two all year. This is the first time one has been seen during the Butterfly Blitz itself.

Checkered whites can be distinguished from the much more abundant cabbage whites by the blocky dark spots on their wings, which cabbage whites don’t have, and the lack of dark forewing tips that cabbage whites do have.

Congratulations you two on a wonderful find!

(27 July 2026, Decker Springs UBI butterfly hotspot, Coles Co., IL)

🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋

Address

Charleston, IL

Website

http://www.urbanbutterflies.org/

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