Friends of Nachusa Grasslands
  • Home
  • About Friends
    • Mission, Leadership, Objectives, and Financials
    • Friends Annual Meeting 2024
    • Endowments
    • Heritage Heroes Initiative
    • Friends Annual Reports
    • Newsletters >
      • PrairiE–Update (email)
      • A Prairie Calling (print and digital)
    • Commenting Policy
  • Plan Your Visit
    • Hours & Parking
    • Directions and Map
    • Visitor Center
    • Pet Policy
    • Public Bison Tours
    • Bison Viewing
    • Hiking >
      • Hiking Guidelines
      • Hiking Destinations
      • Guided Hikes
      • Stone Barn Savanna Tour
      • Visitor Center Trail
      • Scavenger Hunt
    • Autumn on the Prairie >
      • Yearly Festival
    • What's In Bloom?
    • Exploring Nachusa Grasslands on Your Own
    • Things to Do
    • Places to Eat and Stay
    • Local Sites to Visit and Explore
  • Donate
  • Calendar
  • Volunteer
    • Volunteer Opportunities
    • Thursday and Saturday Workdays >
      • Workday Signup
      • Workdays – November to February
      • Volunteer Workday Safety Protocols
      • Leader Workday Safety Protocols
      • Steward Workday Tips
    • Workday Email List
    • Volunteer Recognition
    • Docents
  • Stewardship
    • Nachusa Stewardship
    • Restorations
    • Planting Histories >
      • Stewardship Unit Planting Histories
      • Planting Histories in Chronological Order
    • Weed Reports
    • Native plant resources
    • Volunteer Stewards
    • Groups and Committees
    • Available Units
    • Controlled Burns
    • Prescribed Fire Recruitment
    • Restoration Publications
    • Stewardship Resources >
      • Seed Collection Guides
      • Invasive Plant Management
      • Invasive Identification
      • Monitoring
      • Resource Links
  • Science
    • Science at Nachusa Grasslands
    • Science Symposium 2025
    • 2025 Science Symposium Abstracts
    • Science Grants >
      • Science Grants 2025
      • Science Grants 2021 to 2024 >
        • Science Grants 2024
        • Science Grants 2023
        • Science Grants 2022
        • Science Grants 2021
      • Science Grants 2016 to 2020 >
        • Science Grants 2020
        • Science Grants 2019
        • Science Grants 2018
        • Science Grants 2017
        • Science Grants 2016
      • Science Grants 2011 to 2015 >
        • Science Grants 2015
        • Science Grants 2014
        • Science Grants 2013/2012/2011
    • Potential Research Topics
    • Scientific Publications
    • Anderson Science Award
    • Science Videos
    • Become a Community Scientist >
      • About Community Scientists
      • Butterfly Monitoring
      • Calling Frog Monitoring
      • Dragonflies & Damselflies
      • RiverWatch
  • About Nachusa
    • General Info
    • Nachusa Staff
    • Prairie Smoke Annual Reports
    • Plant Inventory >
      • Common Names
      • Genus Species
    • Animal Inventory >
      • Amphibians
      • Birds
      • Bison Bison >
        • Bison
        • Bison Babies Broadcast Videos
      • Fish
      • Insects
      • Mammals
      • Other Arthropods
      • Reptiles
    • History
    • Jobs
    • Hunting
    • Geology >
      • Geology Part 1
      • Geology Part 2
      • Geology Part 3
    • Websites of Interest
  • Teacher Resources
    • K-2nd grades
    • 3rd-5th grades
    • 6th-8th grades
    • High School
  • BLOG AND MEDIA
    • Nachusa Blog
    • In The News
    • Photo Gallery >
      • Spring Photos
      • Summer Photos
      • Autumn Photos
      • Winter Photos
    • Videos
  • Contact Us / FAQs

Butterfly Monitoring

To learn more about volunteering as a butterfly monitor, please complete the form on the "About Community Scientists" page.

Nachusa Grasslands is "a flutter" with 47 native butterfly species: swallowtails, whites, sulphurs, yellows, blues, hairstreaks, brush-footed, and skippers.

​Particularly exciting is the preserve's population of regal fritillaries. In Illinois, the regal fritillary is a threatened species due mainly to the loss of prairie habitat. The regal caterpillar's diet of ONLY prairie violets also complicates their survival. However, Nachusa Grasslands has become an ideal home for this beautiful butterfly since the remnant lands contain many violets and the restoration prairie plantings are also seeded with several violet species.
Picture
regal fritillary butterfly
Butterfly monitoring by volunteer community scientists will help Nachusa collect data on the butterfly populations. The Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network states that the "goal is to provide data collected with a standardized protocol that allows land managers to evaluate long-term trends in a changing landscape."

​Volunteers attend a training workshop before the season begins in order to learn the common species and monitoring protocols. Each monitor walks an assigned route at least six times during the summer. Usually a route can be traversed within an hour. The monitor records the species seen along their route and then reports the data.

Some Nachusa Grasslands butterfly species:
Swallowtails
Blues and Hairstreaks
Brush-footed
Skippers
​UPDATED 4/2023

CONNECT WITH US

PrairiE–Updates Newsletters

SUPPORT US                      

​Donate | Volunteer                  

FIND US ​

Map & Directions

8772 S. Lowden Road  (mailing address)            
2075 Lowden Road (Visitor Center)           
Franklin Grove, IL 61031

Contact Us

Site Map

PRIVACY POLICY
© 2025 FRIENDS OF NACHUSA GRASSLANDS The content on this website is owned by us and our licensors. Do not copy any content (including images) without our consent.
  • Home
  • About Friends
    • Mission, Leadership, Objectives, and Financials
    • Friends Annual Meeting 2024
    • Endowments
    • Heritage Heroes Initiative
    • Friends Annual Reports
    • Newsletters >
      • PrairiE–Update (email)
      • A Prairie Calling (print and digital)
    • Commenting Policy
  • Plan Your Visit
    • Hours & Parking
    • Directions and Map
    • Visitor Center
    • Pet Policy
    • Public Bison Tours
    • Bison Viewing
    • Hiking >
      • Hiking Guidelines
      • Hiking Destinations
      • Guided Hikes
      • Stone Barn Savanna Tour
      • Visitor Center Trail
      • Scavenger Hunt
    • Autumn on the Prairie >
      • Yearly Festival
    • What's In Bloom?
    • Exploring Nachusa Grasslands on Your Own
    • Things to Do
    • Places to Eat and Stay
    • Local Sites to Visit and Explore
  • Donate
  • Calendar
  • Volunteer
    • Volunteer Opportunities
    • Thursday and Saturday Workdays >
      • Workday Signup
      • Workdays – November to February
      • Volunteer Workday Safety Protocols
      • Leader Workday Safety Protocols
      • Steward Workday Tips
    • Workday Email List
    • Volunteer Recognition
    • Docents
  • Stewardship
    • Nachusa Stewardship
    • Restorations
    • Planting Histories >
      • Stewardship Unit Planting Histories
      • Planting Histories in Chronological Order
    • Weed Reports
    • Native plant resources
    • Volunteer Stewards
    • Groups and Committees
    • Available Units
    • Controlled Burns
    • Prescribed Fire Recruitment
    • Restoration Publications
    • Stewardship Resources >
      • Seed Collection Guides
      • Invasive Plant Management
      • Invasive Identification
      • Monitoring
      • Resource Links
  • Science
    • Science at Nachusa Grasslands
    • Science Symposium 2025
    • 2025 Science Symposium Abstracts
    • Science Grants >
      • Science Grants 2025
      • Science Grants 2021 to 2024 >
        • Science Grants 2024
        • Science Grants 2023
        • Science Grants 2022
        • Science Grants 2021
      • Science Grants 2016 to 2020 >
        • Science Grants 2020
        • Science Grants 2019
        • Science Grants 2018
        • Science Grants 2017
        • Science Grants 2016
      • Science Grants 2011 to 2015 >
        • Science Grants 2015
        • Science Grants 2014
        • Science Grants 2013/2012/2011
    • Potential Research Topics
    • Scientific Publications
    • Anderson Science Award
    • Science Videos
    • Become a Community Scientist >
      • About Community Scientists
      • Butterfly Monitoring
      • Calling Frog Monitoring
      • Dragonflies & Damselflies
      • RiverWatch
  • About Nachusa
    • General Info
    • Nachusa Staff
    • Prairie Smoke Annual Reports
    • Plant Inventory >
      • Common Names
      • Genus Species
    • Animal Inventory >
      • Amphibians
      • Birds
      • Bison Bison >
        • Bison
        • Bison Babies Broadcast Videos
      • Fish
      • Insects
      • Mammals
      • Other Arthropods
      • Reptiles
    • History
    • Jobs
    • Hunting
    • Geology >
      • Geology Part 1
      • Geology Part 2
      • Geology Part 3
    • Websites of Interest
  • Teacher Resources
    • K-2nd grades
    • 3rd-5th grades
    • 6th-8th grades
    • High School
  • BLOG AND MEDIA
    • Nachusa Blog
    • In The News
    • Photo Gallery >
      • Spring Photos
      • Summer Photos
      • Autumn Photos
      • Winter Photos
    • Videos
  • Contact Us / FAQs