Online courses

The National Biodiversity Data Centre have produced several online courses that are free to take.

When you have completed a course, please consider taking part in one of our monitoring schemes. By  submitting records to the National Biodiversity Data Centre either through casual recording or our monitoring schemes, you will make a significant contribution to better understand how our biodiversity is changing.

 

The Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) has experienced a 43% population decline since 2008 when the Butterfly Monitoring Scheme began

Identifying Ireland's Butterflies

The National Biodiversity Data Centre have developed an online eCourse in butterfly identification. This course is suitable for those who are completely new to butterfly identification and those who want to brush up on their skills as another season of recording starts.

This is a detailed eCourse for butterfly identification, showing features of upper and lower wing and any physical differences between males and females. This resource can be used to complement our ‘swatches’ which are small handheld identification guides that can be used while you are out in the field. Swatches can be purchased through our online shop

Garden Butterfly Monitoring Scheme

The National Biodiversity Data Centre have developed an eCourse for the Garden Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. The Garden Butterfly Monitoring Scheme provides recorders with an opportunity to record butterflies in their gardens. Ireland has 32 resident and 3 common migrant butterfly species and while this is quite a manageable number to learn, we only cover the 20 most common butterfly species in the Garden Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. This makes this recording scheme very accessible to beginners.

By going through this eCourse you will learn:

  1. How to identify the 20 garden butterfly species
  2. The methods for the Garden Butterfly Monitoring Scheme
  3. How to register your garden on the National Sampling Framework (video tutorial)
  4. How to submit your data (video tutorial)
  5. Butterfly identification support