Posts About Vermont Butterfly Atlas

Second Season a Success for the Vermont Butterfly Atlas

In 2024 we had 90 observers report 96 butterfly species in 1,973 complete checklists comprising 7,590 butterfly occurrence records to e-Butterfly.org, our official atlas data portal. Overall, we now have over 3,800 checklists comprising more than 14,000 butterfly occurrence records!

Zabulon Skipper Discovered in Vermont

It took less than a month for Terri Armata, one of our star butterfly atlas volunteers, to find and document the 119th butterfly species for Vermont and her 4th state record, a Zabulon Skipper (Lon zabulon).

Searching for Butterflies: The West Virginia White

West Virginia White butterfly populations are a conservation concern in Vermont due to various factors, including invasive species and forest fragmentation. As VCE’s Spatial Science Intern, Eli Byington spent the summer working with data from the Vermont Atlas of Life to create a species distribution model for the West Virginia White in Vermont. This model incorporated bioclimatic variables and host-plant distributions to reveal areas within Vermont that may be suitable for these butterflies today and into the future.

Red Alert! The Admirals are Coming

Right now, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of butterflies are arriving in Vermont. No, they’re not Monarchs. These are Red Admirals, and about every decade or so, there’s a massive migration northward from somewhere south. It’s one of the many great migrations that often go unnoticed.

Welcome to the Second Vermont Butterfly Atlas (2023-2027) Field Season!

Spring is finally here, and already this year atlas volunteers have found 10 species of butterflies signaling the start of our second atlas field season. Join the atlas and help us learn how Vermont butterfly populations are changing. Thank you to returning volunteers for adopting a survey block last year and big welcome to any new or interested volunteers.

e-Butterfly Goes Global

Thanks to the collaboration of an international team of biologists, entomologists, and computer systems specialists, the e-Butterfly.org platform now offers high-performance tools allowing citizens everywhere to help inventory butterflies around the world.

After Two Decades of Searching a Rare Butterfly is Discovered during the Vermont Butterfly Atlas

A rare and elusive butterfly has been discovered for the first time in Vermont, flying this spring at one of the state’s protected natural areas. Bog Elfin, patterned in brown and rust, and no bigger than a penny, had eluded detection in the state until one flew past a Vermont field biologist who had been searching for it for two decades.

Vermonters Invited to Help Search for Butterflies

Vermonters now have another excuse to get outside on sunny days: to join a statewide survey of the most angelic insects—butterflies. VAL is recruiting volunteers to help search fields and fens, mountains and meadows, and even their own backyards to help document the status of Vermont’s butterflies.

New Butterfly Species Recorded for Vermont on iNaturalist

In October iNaturalist user James McNamara photographed a European Peacock Butterfly in a garden and reported it the Vermont Atlas of Life on iNaturalist marking the first state record for this species.