Despite numerous references to his drawings in the literature, the actual number of butterfly species that English artist-naturalist John Abbot (1751-c.1840) recorded in Georgia was unknown. As part of an exhaustive study spanning nearly 20 years, several thousand of Abbot's insect and bird drawings were examined. This includes a newly rediscovered collection of insect life history watercolors that Abbot sold to Heinrich Escher-Zollikofer, 20 of which were used for illustrations in the book Histoire Générale et Iconographie des Lépidoptéres et des Chenilles de l'Amérique Septentrionale by Boisduval and Le Conte (1829-[1837]). Many of Abbot's figures that were used for this book were overpainted by Charles Émile Blanchard. Also recently discovered is an unusual series of Abbot's drawings that almost entirely portray early stages of insects, mostly Lepidoptera. Each collection of Abbot's insect drawings is detailed, and the butterflies they portray are documented. Examples from most collections are figured. Abbot's species names and abundance observations are given, and his duplicate compositions are chronologically tabulated. Historical books and manuscripts that figure (or may figure) Abbot's specimens are cited, as are more recent publications that include photographs of his butterfly drawings. Insect collections that are known to contain Abbot's specimens are summarized, and known (or suspected) specimens are listed by species. Based on these findings, Abbot recorded at least 107 species of butterflies in eastern Georgia, but another 29 species have been recorded in the region since his lifetime. Some additional details about the production of Smith and Abbot (1797) are also presented.

During 2014-16, extensive field studies were conducted on wild migrating monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) at origin (southeast Arizona) and destination (California) locations. From a total of 3194 monarchs tagged, 44 (1.4%) were recovered at distances from 789 to 1193 km (California) and 1631 to 1736 km (Mexico). Thirty two (1.0%) monarchs were recovered in California and 12 (0.4%) in Mexico. In 2016, the year with the majority of tagged butterflies, 1810 monarchs were tagged and 23 (1.3%) recovered: 14 (0.8%) in California and 7 (0.4%) in Mexico. For the first time wild monarchs tagged in the same location and on the same day, were recovered at overwintering sites in both California and Mexico. This discovery indicates that monarch migration dynamics in the western United States are more complex than previously known and is supportive of a long-held hypothesized connection between eastern and western populations.

Adult butterfly abundance and diversity was compared in four remnant and four planted tallgrass prairies in Northeast Iowa. Butterfly surveys were conducted at approximately three week intervals over the summer of 2015. Researchers used a modified “Pollard Walk” technique following a meandering transect, and butterfly sightings recorded using the Unified Butterfly Recorder (UBR) Android app. If a butterfly was observed nectaring on a flower, the species of flower was recorded. Floral resource availability, plant species richness and percent cover were measured in each prairie. Although planted prairies contained significantly greater floral resources than remnant prairies, there was no significant difference in floral plant species richness between remnants and plantings. Remnant and planted prairies did not differ in butterfly abundance, but remnant prairies had significantly greater butterfly species richness than planted prairies. These results provide valuable information on the current status of butterflies in each prairie type in northeast Iowa, and can be used in directing future land management and conservation work.