Free Butterfly Guide App released 10-3-12

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117 adult butterflies and caterpillars are illustrated and described on this brand new app for iphone, ipod touch, and ipads with IOS 5.0 or later.  The application " draws on three decades of data compiled by Art Shapiro, professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis."

Screenshot of Butterfly Guide app
"The app can be used to look up butterflies by common name, scientific name, family and color. The app also allows users to enter their own notes and photos and record sightings. Whitaker hopes that the app will ultimately be able to collect users' observations and photos into a publicly accessible "citizen science" database."

The project was funded by the National Science Foundation-sponsored Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship in Rapid Environmental Change, or REACH-IGERT, at UC Davis.

From Melissa Whitaker on iTunes, http://itunes.apple.com/,
 "The Butterfly Guide provides an interactive field guide to over 100 butterfly species in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento Valley & San Joaquin Delta. This app is meant for students, scientists, amateurs, educators, nature-lovers, and anyone who wants a tool for understanding and recording the entomological beauty of our region."

David Waetjen, a Web developer with the UC Davis Information Center for the Environment will work on the second phase of the app, in which users will be able to upload photos and notes to the public database.

Whitaker's site is
http://www.melissawhitaker.net/The_Butterfly_Guide.html

Pretty exciting, eh?

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