Vanessa Migration Project

Today, August 23, is Ukrainian National Flag Day, and tomorrow, August 24, is Ukrainian Independence Day, marking 32 years for Ukraine as an independent country.

As my way of celebrating these Ukrainian national holidays, I encourage you to visit the iNaturalist project page, Lepidoptera of Ukraine, at https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/lepidoptera-of-ukraine . Ukraine is quite the biodiverse country, from the montane conifer forest of the far western Carpathians to the central European mixed forest of the northwest, the forest steppe of the northeast, the open southern grassland steppes, and along the southern coast of Crimea, the Submediterranean Forest Complex. This great diversity likely yields correspondingly diverse communities of butterflies and moths.

Last but not least, I've been amazed by how many Ukrainians have been posting observations on iNaturalist, despite the ongoing events of this terrible war. less ↑