An Incredible Start for the Second Vermont Butterfly Atlas

Thank you for your amazing work so far. With nearly 100 total block adoptions and 66 of the 184 (36%) priority blocks adopted, the Second Vermont Butterfly Atlas is off to a great start! As with any statewide atlasing effort, there are always going to be some less populated parts of the state with fewer adopted blocks. In Vermont, that means there are still lots priority blocks to be adopted in scenic and butterfly-diverse regions such as the Northeast Kingdom, the southern Connecticut River Valley, and the central Green Mountains.

Remember, this is a five-year project, meaning you have lots of time to thoroughly survey a block even if you can’t visit as frequently as your more local priority block(s)! Even if you don’t feel like adopting a block farther afield, if you find yourself in another part of the state, consider doing a quick butterfly survey of a priority block to help fill in the map. Volunteers are also welcome to go on “block-busting” trips to areas with lots of remote blocks to start filling in the species lists of these remote priority blocks. Keep an eye on the events calendar on the Vermont Butterfly Atlas website for information about block-busting butterfly trips with Atlas Coordinator Nathaniel Sharp.

If you haven’t yet heard the exciting tale of Bryan Pfeiffer’s discovery of Bog Elfin (see his beautiful image below) in Vermont, we're sorry to have spoiled the ending, but do read the entertaining story! One of the target species we highlighted in our last atlas newsletter, this exciting find is the best way we could imagine to kick off Year 1 of the Second Vermont Butterfly Atlas. 

Please join our Atlas discussion forum, a place for everyone to share ideas, ask us questions, learn from each other, and more. There are some great questions and conversations taking place there about survey types, zero counts, and more.

Vermont Butterfly Checklist Updated

Butterfly taxonomy is a work in progress, and the last few years have seen some far reaching taxonomic changes that have affected many of the species found in Vermont. The Vermont Butterfly Atlas follows the Butterflies of America checklist, which was updated at the end of June with many changes brought by new science publications. Keeping up with these changes is no easy task.

The 1995 checklist of Vermont Lepidoptera listed 89 butterfly species in 48 genera, with two new butterfly species recorded for Vermont. The first Vermont Butterfly Atlas added 11 species to the Vermont checklist. Keen observers added four species since the first atlas, and so far, one new species this year. The Checklist of the Butterflies (Papilionoidea) of Vermont is now comprised of 117 species in 5 families (Family:no. species= Hesperiidae 37, Lycaenidae 26, Nymphalidae 44, Papilionidae 6, Pieridae 8). Nomenclature follows: Warren, A. D., K. J. Davis, E. M. Stangeland, J. P. Pelham, K. R. Willmott & N. V. Grishin (2023) Illustrated Lists of American Butterflies (North and South America) 23-VI-2023 https://www.butterfliesofamerica.com/index.html.

We also changed one common name. Indian Skipper (Hesperia sassacus) is now Sassacus Skipper. He was a Pequot Sachem, which is where the species name was derived. We thought it was long past due to have a proper common name for this species. This change has been made at e-Butterfly too.

We are incorporating these changes into the atlas website and e-Butterfly over the next few months, some of them you might have already seen. The great thing about a modern platform like e-Butterfly is that it allows us to correct and change taxonomy for all observations relatively easily.

Meanwhile, here's a searchable and sortable table of all the butterfly species known from Vermont on the atlas website.

Species Spotlight: Emperors

Both the Hackberry and Tawny Emperors were first discovered in Vermont during the first atlas in the northwestern region where most historic collecting occurred. Because they were found only in a few floodplain forests within the Vermont range of Hackberry tree (Celtis occidentalis), the two species may have simply been previously missed rather than recently arriving. Either way, Vermont is on the northern edge of the range of both emperors and their host plant. They can be found in the Champlain Valley and as far north as Bradford in the Connecticut River valley, generally where the host tree is found.

Hackberry Emperor: As their name implies, where Hackberries are found, so too are Hackberry Emperors. Burlington in particular seems to be a hotspot in the state for this species with many hackberry trees lining the streets and sidewalks of the Queen City. While these butterflies are fairly large and boldly patterned, their quick, erratic flight can make them difficult to get a good look at. Their distinctive, nuthatch-like behavior of landing upside-down on tree trunks can be a helpful identification feature when they sit still. Adults are rarely seen nectaring but can occasionally be found on sap, mud, rotting fruit, or scat.

Tawny Emperor: Though similar to the Hackberry Emperor physically, in range, habitat, and life history, there are two notable differences. First, it has been noted that Tawny Emperors fly earlier in the day than the Hackberry, thereby separating them temporally. Tawny larvae are gregarious and feed communally on the mature leaves of the Hackberry, whereas Hackberry larvae feed on the new leaf growth in smaller groups.

Join the Annual Vermont Moth Blitz

Explore Vermont's astounding moth diversity! By participating in our annual Moth Blitz, you will help the Vermont Moth Atlas develop a better understanding of the moths that call the Green Mountain State home. Over 2,200 moth species have been documented in Vermont with new species being found all the time. Who knows, maybe you will find one! We encourage everyone, from experts to amateur enthusiasts, to find, photograph, and share their moth discoveries with the Vermont Moth Blitz during National Moth Week (July 22-30). Can we beat last years' tally? Only with your help!

Join the 7th Annual Monarch Blitz

The International Monarch Monitoring Blitz is back for a 7th edition! From July 28 to August 6, 2023, join thousands of volunteers across Canada, the United States and Mexico in supporting conservation of the monarch butterfly.

Mission Monarch is a community science program to gather data on Monarch and Milkweed distribution and abundance each year during the breeding season. Participants find milkweed, look for Monarchs (eggs, larvae, and adults) and share their observations with us on the Mission Monarch website. It allows us to get an annual snapshot of how Monarchs are faring in Vermont and beyond.

Participation is simple! Just complete one or more missions during the Blitz between July 28 through August 6 and add your observations to Mission Monarch. Conducting a mission is easy and fun! From backyards to mountain meadows, all you need is a place where milkweed is growing. Join and learn more about the mission at the Vermont Atlas of Life website.

Getting Started with e-Butterfly: Watch a Recorded Webinar

Every time butterfly watchers raise binoculars and cameras to record a butterfly sighting, they collect important data. Recording the number, date, and location of each and every butterfly, no matter how common or rare, may seem trivial, even repetitive— but this detailed information can be invaluable to science and conservation. Butterflies act as early warning signals for habitat degradation, climate change, and other ecological forces.

Do you want to learn more about how to use eButterfly? Join Dr. Rodrigo Solis Sosa, our Human Network and Data Coordinator at e-Butterfly, as he explains how to use e-Butterfly in this recorded webinar.

And don't forget to check out our Help pages that will quickly get you started on using e-Butterfly. There’s a Quick Start Guide that takes you through each step when entering a butterfly checklist. Learn about our new crowd-sourced data vetting system and our identification tool and how you can quickly get started in helping to verify eButterfly data too. And learn how eButterfly helps you track your life, year, and month lists for countries, states and provinces automatically.