PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

When it comes to butterflies, people prefer pretty ones. That’s a problem for scientists.

Scientists studying biodiversity rely on public data, but USC Dornsife researchers found that butterfly sightings on one popular online platform are skewed by personal preferences.

2024-07-24
(Press-News.org) Research shows humans often perceive attractive people as more intelligent, healthier, better leaders and more trustworthy. It turns out this bias extends to the insect world.

A new study by scientists at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences reveals that data reported on a popular community science platform is biased. On iNaturalist, butterflies with captivating markings, easily identifiable features or those that are familiar species are reported more frequently than obscure species with no distinct qualities.

Why it matters: Online community science — or participatory science — platforms enable nature-loving non-scientists to contribute data that scientists use to track insect populations.

While their sightings contribute to conservation decisions, scientific knowledge and education, community scientists can introduce misleading biases, according to the USC Dornsife study. Understanding and accounting for these biases is key for scientists to estimate species distributions, assess conservation priorities and identify population trends. The study provides insights for enhancing participatory science programs and butterfly conservation. USC Dornsife’s Laura Melissa Guzman studies butterflies and other pollinators. (Photo: Olga Burymska.)

In her words: “Each year, 3 million people share their observations of insect life on community-science platforms. This data can help us track declines in butterfly populations, resulting from factors like climate change or pesticide use, but only if it’s accurate,” said Laura Melissa Guzman, Gabilan Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences and Quantitative and Computational Biology at USC Dornsife.

Community science platforms: eButterfly and iNaturalist are the two most popular platforms community scientists use to report butterfly data. Their methods for collecting data differ, though.

On iNaturalist, community scientists are encouraged to share photos of butterfly sightings so experts can verify the species. Information uploaded without a photo, or with an unclear image, cannot be verified. As a result, difficult-to-photograph butterflies are less likely to be included in the dataset. On eButterfly, participants can report sightings via a simple checklist that asks when, where, how and what kind of butterfly species was observed. This method results in a more comprehensive account of all species observed, similar to those data-gathering techniques used in ecological surveys. However, it requires participants to accurately identify the species they report, which can be challenging for beginners. What they found: The researchers discovered that the iNaturalist method of relying on photos to identify and verify species creates a personal bias toward easily photographed or interesting species.

Users of the iNaturalist platform overreported species with captivating, aesthetically distinctive features like wing tails, checkered patterns, spots, eyespots and stripes. They underreported many species, particularly those that were difficult to identify and those with light-colored markings on their wings. Behavioral traits, such as butterflies’ flight style and height, and traits that make butterflies difficult to photograph, may have affected reporting patterns, the researchers surmise. By the numbers: Overall, 34 species were often underreported and 53 were frequently overreported on iNaturalist compared to eButterfly.

The researchers found that butterflies from the two largest families —Nymphalidae, which includes monarchs (easy to identify and very photogenic) and Lycaenidae (commonly known as gossamer-winged butterflies for their delicate aspect)— were often overreported on iNaturalist. The most underreported species belonged to the Pieridae family, which are among the most common and aesthetically unappealing, and frequently regarded as garden pests. Researchers observed similar trends in species reporting among users in the east and west, indicating similar biases among users. How they did it: In collaboration with North Carolina State researcher Benjamin Goldstein, Guzman and her team compared data shared on iNaturalist and eButterfly from 2000–2021.

Using computational modeling they examined data related to 194 species from five butterfly families in North America, focusing on six factors: prevalence, ease of identification, body size, color diversity, wingspan and wing features, and migratory status. Next steps: Guzman says improving participatory science requires training observers to identify species and raise awareness of biases that result in the underreporting of species. She recommends two major improvements to community science apps.

Use species-specific reporting methods to reduce users’ biases that can influence ecological studies. Highlight both popular and underreported species to improve accuracy in the data collection process. END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

UBC Okanagan study raises concerns about partner violence in queer relationships

2024-07-24
When people think of a concussion or a traumatic brain injury caused by intimate partner violence (IPV), they might picture people in a heterosexual relationship, or a man hurting a woman. But a UBC Okanagan researcher points out that IPV, and its repercussions, is an issue in all relationships. Doctoral student Tori Stranges recently published a paper examining the prevalence and damage done by violence in Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer (or Questioning), Intersex and Asexual (2SLGBTQIA+) relationships. “It’s very common for people to think that violence doesn’t ...

Human-infecting parasite produces sterile soldiers like ants and termites

Human-infecting parasite produces sterile soldiers like ants and termites
2024-07-24
New research from scientists at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography finds a tiny freshwater parasite known to cause health problems in humans defends its colonies with a class of soldiers that cannot reproduce. The discovery, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and funded by the National Institutes of Health, vaults this species of parasitic flatworm into the ranks of complex animal societies such as ants, bees and termites, which also have distinct classes of workers and soldiers that have given up reproduction to serve their colony. When it gets into humans, usually via the consumption of raw or undercooked fish, this species ...

The unintended consequences of success against malaria

The unintended consequences of success against malaria
2024-07-24
For decades, insecticide-treated bed nets and indoor insecticide spraying regimens have been important – and widely successful – treatments against mosquitoes that transmit malaria, a dangerous global disease. Yet these treatments also – for a time – suppressed undesirable household insects like bed bugs, cockroaches and flies. Now, a new North Carolina State University study reviewing the academic literature on indoor pest control shows that as the household insects developed resistance ...

Taco-shaped arthropod from Royal Ontario Museum’s Burgess Shale fossils gives new insights into the history of the first mandibulates

Taco-shaped arthropod from Royal Ontario Museum’s Burgess Shale fossils gives new insights into the history of the first mandibulates
2024-07-24
A new study, led by palaeontologists at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is helping resolve the evolution and ecology of Odaraia, a taco-shaped marine animal that lived during the Cambrian period. Fossils collected by ROM reveal Odaraia had mandibles. Palaeontologists are finally able to place it as belonging to the mandibulates, ending its long enigmatic classification among the arthropods since it was first discovered in the Burgess Shale over 100 years ago and revealing more about early evolution and diversification. The study The Cambrian Odaraia alata and the colonization of nektonic suspension-feeding niches by early mandibulates was published ...

Butterflies accumulate enough static electricity to attract pollen without contact, new research finds

Butterflies accumulate enough static electricity to attract pollen without contact, new research finds
2024-07-24
Butterflies and moths collect so much static electricity whilst in flight, that pollen grains from flowers can be pulled by static electricity across air gaps of several millimetres or centimetres. The finding, published today in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, suggests that this likely increases their efficiency and effectiveness as pollinators. The University of Bristol team also observed that the amount of static electricity carried by butterflies and moths varies between different species, and that these variations correlate with differences in their ecology, such as whether they visit flowers, are ...

Eyes for Love: Searching for light and a mate in the deep, dark sea, male dragonfishes grow larger eyes than the females they seek

Eyes for Love: Searching for light and a mate in the deep, dark sea, male dragonfishes grow larger eyes than the females they seek
2024-07-24
Chestnut Hill, Mass (07/24/2024) – A small but ferocious predator, the male dragonfish will apparently do anything for love. Or at least to find a mate. A new study by researchers at Boston College found the eyes of the male dragonfish grow larger for mate-seeking purposes, making the dragonfish an anomaly in vertebrate evolution, the team reported today in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. Like many creatures that inhabit the dark depths of the sea, dragonfishes survive thanks to numerous ...

PNNL scientists tap nation’s fastest computers to explore critical science questions

2024-07-24
RICHLAND, Wash.—Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have been awarded more than 3 million node hours on the nation’s most powerful computers to explore questions around pathogens, climate and energy-efficient microelectronics.   Access to the nation’s supercomputers, granted to Margaret Cheung, Daniel Mejia Rodriguez and Po-Lun Ma, is a coveted prize among scientists. The node hours represent an investment of several million dollars in computing time awarded to PNNL scientists to explore important science questions.   The awards are among 44 projects awarded through ...

Peri-operative care of transgender and gender-diverse individuals: new guidance for clinicians and departments published

2024-07-24
New guidance on peri-operative care of transgender and gender-diverse individuals is today published in Anaesthesia (the journal of the Association of Anaesthetists) to guide best practice to ensure the safety and dignity of transgender and gender-diverse people in the peri-operative period. The guidance has been produced by a working group of experts including Dr Stuart Edwardson, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK, and Dr Luke Flower, Victor Philip Dahdaleh Heart and Lung Research Institute, Cambridge, UK, and colleagues. The number of people openly identifying ...

Clinical psychologist’s book addresses largely ignored problem: social anxiety

Clinical psychologist’s book addresses largely ignored problem: social anxiety
2024-07-23
RIVERISDE, Calif. -- We all have some social anxiety. The nervousness we might feel before giving a speech is one example. Some people, however, have more social anxiety than others, and limit their social engagement due to excessive chronic fears of being embarrassed or humiliated. Although such social anxiety is common in both adolescents and adults, it is rarely diagnosed and treated. In a new book titled “Social Anxiety: Hidden Fears and Shame in Teens and Adults,” Thomas E. Brown, a clinical professor of psychiatry and neuroscience in the University of California, Riverside's School of Medicine , explains ...

Researchers leveraging AI to train (robotic) dogs to respond to their masters

Researchers leveraging AI to train (robotic) dogs to respond to their masters
2024-07-23
An international collaboration seeks to innovate the future of how a mechanical man’s best friend interacts with its owner, using a combination of AI and edge computing called edge intelligence. The project is sponsored through a one-year seed grant from the Institute for Future Technologies (IFT), a partnership between New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU).  Assistant Professor Kasthuri Jayarajah in NJIT’s Ying Wu College of Computing is researching how to design a socially assistive model ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Scientists create new overwintering sites for monarch butterflies on a warming planet

Laser solid-phase synthesis of graphene shell-encapsulated high-entropy alloy nanoparticles

New catalyst breakthrough: Improving oxygen reduction reaction with dual nitrogen sources

Protein shakeup: Researchers uncover new function of a protein that may unlock age-related illnesses

UMD-led study could ‘pave the way’ for improved treatment of premature aging disease

How chain IVF clinics improve infertility treatment

Study shows that Rett syndrome in females is not just less severe, but different

Big data, real world, multi-state study finds RSV vaccine highly effective in protecting older adults against severe disease, hospitalization and death

Manliness concerns impede forgiveness of coworkers

Better ocean connectivity boosts reef fish populations

Two 2024 Nobel laureates are affiliates of the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole

Ultra-processed foods pose unique dangers for people with type 2 diabetes

When hurricanes hit, online chatter drowns out safety messaging

Study seeks rapid, paper-based test to detect cancer cells in cerebrospinal fluid

Raising happy eaters: Unlocking the secrets of childhood appetite

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons launches two new thoracic surgery risk calculators

FAPESP and CNR plan to launch joint call for proposals in April 2025

Smaller, more specific academic journals have more sway over policy

Medicaid ACOs have not yet improved care for kids with asthma

New study sheds light on lily toxicity in cats; outpatient treatment may be viable option

A new benchmark to recognize the hardest problems in materials science

Why do we love carbs? The origins predate agriculture and maybe even our split from Neanderthals

Key protein for the biosynthesis of defense steroids in solanaceous plants discovered

Global CO2 emissions from forest fires increase by 60%

AI-assisted deliberation can help people with different views find common ground

Special Issue explores factors influencing democratic attitudes, and what’s at stake for science in the U.S. after November election

Extratropical forest fire emissions are increasing as climate changes

A new approach to capturing complex mixtures of organic chemicals in blood, evaluated in pregnant women

Gut instincts: Intestinal nutrient sensors

Catching prey with grappling hooks and cannons

[Press-News.org] When it comes to butterflies, people prefer pretty ones. That’s a problem for scientists.
Scientists studying biodiversity rely on public data, but USC Dornsife researchers found that butterfly sightings on one popular online platform are skewed by personal preferences.