Welcome to South Africa BMS
In this tab, you will find specific information about the South African butterfly monitoring scheme.
About the South Africa BMS
The South Africa BMS began collecting transect and 15-minute count data in 2023 and continues to grow and support butterfly conservation, thanks to the efforts of the scheme's main coordinators, Steve Woodhall and Lynn Katsoulis, and the support of the Lepidopterists Society of Africa.
Getting started - Contact us
Are you new to butterfly counts? Do you need help identifying butterflies?
Please contact the coordinators before starting a transect, they can help you place your transect and give advice on butterfly monitoring.
Please contact Steve Woodhall: [email protected]
If you have problems or suggestions specifically regarding the eBMS app or website, please contact eBMS by writing [email protected].
About South African Butterflies
South Africa has a diverse butterfly fauna. There are 673 species in total; 807 if you count the taxa to subspecies level. In the northern and eastern areas there are many tropical species that are also found further north. As you move south and west there are many endemics (380 taxa) in the arid Karoo and the Cape Floral Kingdom.
Don’t be daunted by the high species number. The north-east of the country has the highest species density – around Durban or in the Makhado district it’s over 300 – but on a small transect it’s unlikely that you’ll get past 120. In some of the arid or fynbos areas in the south, on a provincial scale there may be many species but for a small transect or survey area there may be very few species. That’s because most of the butterflies in those areas are restricted-range specialists and the chances are that you’ll only find a few dozen in any one place.
Like the rest of the world, South Africa’s butterflies are under threat from many things – pollution, habitat destruction, unwise pesticide use, etc. Doing regular counts of their numbers in a given area will provide data we can analyse to track how their numbers are changing over time and inform conservation decisions.