"Butterfly Week 2019"
7th - 12th July 2019
Gran Sasso and Laga Mountains
The Butterfly Week is a research initiative that involves researchers and citizens. Every year a different destination is chosen and for a week a group of international researchers travel through beautiful Italian regions to collect and study butterflies in order to discover and describe the diversity, still largely unknown! During this event, researchers meet the public to explain the importance of butterflies and to involve citizens in the collection and conservation actions.
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Italy is the country with the largest diversity of butterflies in Europe, with approximately 280 resident species (576 species exist on the continent). Nevertheless, almost nothing is known about their structure and genetic richness. This extensive study will reveal the existence of unknown species and endemic genetic lines in our country. Ultimately the barcoding of butterflies represent the most powerful cognitive tool to draw up plans to preserve the biodiversity of these organisms not only in Italy but in the whole Mediterranean area.
