The state of BugGuide: Past, present, and future

It has been over 15 years since BugGuide was started by Troy Bartlett and a decade since it was transferred Iowa State University Department of Entomology for caretaking.  In that time BugGuide has sorted over 1 million images from over 25,000 contributors.  Insect images from North America are identified and sorted taxonomically by dedicated volunteers.  There are currently over 31,000 species pages organized by a core group of about 350 editors and experts.   BugGuide has enabled entomologists to describe new taxa and expand the ranges of known taxa.   Images of insects have also allowed us to learn more about the insect’s behavior, host associations, and more.  In the summer BugGuide typically identifies 17,000 insects and has millions of page views per month.  Over 20,000 unique visitors daily is typical.