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Volunteer monitors track Michigan’s 150 butterfly species

Ashley Wick

Along with the spring tulips and early morning birds, you might have also started to notice a few butterflies now that the weather has warmed up. Michigan is home to over 150 species of butterflies, from swallowtails to monarchs. And that means that  soon, volunteer monitors will be out in full force for the annual state butterfly survey.Current State’s April Van Buren headed to the Kalamazoo Nature Center to meet up with wildlife biologist Ashley Wick, who is the director of the Michigan Butterfly Network. This is an organization that sends out volunteer monitors to track and collect data on butterfly species in areas across the state.

This segment is supported by Michigan State University's Knight Center for Environmental Journalism. More news about the Great Lakes environment can be found at GreatLakesEcho.org and on Current State every Tuesday as part of our partnership.

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