MME 2023 butterfly of the year data collection competition
The competition
The Butterfly Conservation Section of the Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society announced a data collection competition in April 2023 for the 2023 Butterfly of the Year, the swallowtail butterfly. The goal of the game was to raise awareness about the protection of the swallowtail butterfly and, in general, about nature conservation challenges affecting butterflies and the reasons for their decline. The swallowtail butterfly, the Butterfly of the Year, was particularly vulnerable due to the cold periods that began in recent years and intensive pesticide use, making the competition of great importance for species protection.
Papilio machaon - fecskefarkú lepke
The izeltlabuak.hu website primarily focuses on arthropods found in Hungary. This entry also deals with Hungarian fauna.
Competitors had to register on a form prepared by the organizers, and record their observations on the izeltlabuak.hu website. The competition was exclusively for the swallowtail butterfly, accepting photos from any stage (egg, caterpillar, pupa, adult butterfly). Participants had to provide at least a photo of the butterfly, the observation date and location. On the izeltlabuak.hu interface, observations were evaluated by experts, and additional information, such as comments or specimen count, also increased the value of the observation. Observations recorded from April 3, 2023 to November 30, 2023 were counted in the competition.
izeltlabuak.hu provides its users with the opportunity to record not only swallowtail butterfly but any arthropod observations. The platform is free to use, recorded data is public and freely accessible to all visitors. Contributing experts help with identification and determination of observations. Recorded data serves as a useful information source for scientific work and research.
About the swallowtail butterfly
The swallowtail butterfly (Papilio machaon) belongs to the Papilionidae family. The species occurs in North America, Europe, Asia, and also in a small part of North Africa. It is active during the day. It overwinters as a pupa, attached to plant stems.
The red spot visible on its wing pattern and the tail extension, from which it gets its name, can mislead birds hunting it, diverting attention from the animal's vital organs. The so-called hilltop phenomenon can be observed in the species, where butterflies gather on the top of elevations to find mates. Males aggressively defend their territory.
Caterpillars in early stages resemble bird droppings. The deceptive phenomenon is called mimicry, which serves their protection. Their pattern becomes conspicuous later. At this time, they defend against attacks by pushing out a forked, snake-tongue-like orange extension (osmeterium) from behind their head and releasing an unpleasant-smelling substance.
Its host plants are umbelliferous plants, e.g. burning bush (Dictamnus albus), wild carrot (Daucus carota), hogweed species (Peucedanum spp.), trinia species (Trinia spp.), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), dill (Anethum graveolens).
In Hungary it is protected, with a nature conservation value of 10,000 Ft.
We often use the name "pillangó" for butterflies in general. This is incorrect practice; we call butterflies belonging to the Papilionidae family "pillangó". 4 swallowtail species live in our country, of which the swallowtail butterfly is one of the most widespread.
- all user observations of the swallowtail butterfly
- distribution of the swallowtail butterfly in Hungary
- temporal observations of the swallowtail butterfly
Papilio machaon - fecskefarkú lepke
Results
The MME Butterfly Conservation Section announced the competition results in a Facebook post when the competition ended on December 4, 2023. According to the summary, 29 people participated in the competition, of whom 11 observed swallowtail butterflies. During the total of 36 observations (32 adults, 4 caterpillars), 62 specimens (58 adults, 4 caterpillars) were observed. During the analysis, the Section concluded that, similar to previous years, the size of the domestic population is stagnant, showing no growth, but no decline either. The 5 participants who collected the most observations in the competition received valuable prizes.
The winners:
- Kéry Rezsőné - 9 observations
- Sápi Tamás - 5 observations
- Horváth Balázs - 5 observations
- Menkó Gábor - 4 observations
- Glemba Gábor - 3 observations
Congratulations to the winners!
izeltlabuak.hu created a subpage for the 2023 butterfly of the year data collection competition. On this page, swallowtail butterfly observations recorded in 2023 are available. The observations of users registered for the competition and all swallowtail butterfly observations of the year are visible on separate tabs. izeltlabuak.hu works together with several public, community-based so-called Citizen science projects. In 2023, such projects included the European Stag Beetle Monitoring Project, European Moth Nights and National Moth Week.
Conclusion
The swallowtail butterfly data collection competition organized by the MME Butterfly Conservation Section was a successful and exemplary initiative that connected nature conservation and community participation. With the help of izeltlabuak.hu, the competition not only collected valuable data but also strengthened the community of participants, contributing to the protection of the swallowtail butterfly and other butterfly species.