Connecticut Butterfly Association

06/04/2026

Stefan Martin just came across this and asked me to share it. 3 days left of the survey if interested.

Hi Everyone,

In five days, butterfly watchers, educators, researchers, and curious people of all ages across the globe will step outside together. The inaugural Global Butterfly Week, running from May 30 to June 7, 2026, launches as the first coordinated worldwide effort to monitor butterfly diversity through community science during a single shared window. Co-organized by eButterfly and Fundación Alas y Antenas (Panama Insect Conservation Organization), in collaboration with partners across the globe, the event invites individuals and organizations on every continent to observe butterflies, record their sightings, and contribute to a growing global dataset.

Participating is simple: get outside, observe any butterflies you encounter, and submit your sightings through eButterfly (www.e-butterfly.org) or iNaturalist. Observations submitted through either platform flow directly into the global dataset; no additional reporting is required.

As part of Global Butterfly Week, the McGuire Center will be giving a presentation highlighting the McGuire Center's ongoing research, outreach activities, and other contributions to spreading global awareness of butterflies and their importance to our ecosystem. This will be a virtual presentation over Zoom on Monday June 1 at 11:00 AM Eastern time. I hope to see you all there. Please share this broadly with others to increase visibility for what we do at the Center.

https://ufl.zoom.us/j/91755173106

To learn more about Global Butterfly Week, visit https://gbw.e-butterfly.org/en & www.e-butterfly.org

Or follow the campaign on social media:

Very Best,

Akito Kawahara
--
Director, Curator, and Professor
McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity
Florida Museum of Natural History
University of Florida
Powell Hall, 3215 Hull Road
Gainesville, FL 32611-2710 USA
Tel: 352.273.2018
Email: [email protected]
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/mcguire/kawahara/

How many species are on your life list? Are there fewer butterflies this year? eButterfly tracks it all for you—completely free.

05/20/2026

Looking forward to this!!

05/08/2026

LARRY GALL'S WEST ROCK FIELD TRIP HAS BEEN MOVED TO SUNDAY, 10AM. INFO IN EVENT POST LOWER DOWN ON SITE.

05/08/2026

ATTN! From Larry Gall, re. West Rock field trip:

Hi folks,
The NOAA 7-day forecast is currently looking poor for the scheduled date of Saturday 9 May for the West Rock CBA butterfly walk, but the rain-date of Sunday 10 May is looking good. At this time, I am TENTATIVELY indicating the walk will take place on the rain-date of Sunday 10 May. I’ll make a final decision later in the afternoon Friday and send another email to CTLEPS-L. Meeting time is 10:00 a.m. around the gate/vehicle entrance to West Rock which is off of Wintergreen Avenue; limited parking is there, and on Carbonella Drive, and potentially also along West Rock Nature center entrance area.

Best,

Larry
- - -
Lawrence F. Gall, Ph.D.
Senior Collections Manager, Entomology Division

04/26/2026

CBA merch available here - [https://www.teepublic.com/user/cba/t-shirts]

04/24/2026

From CBA VP Jim Dugan:

Dear CBA Family,

Our butterflies, other insects and our birds seriously need your help to send “An Act Concerning Pesticide Reporting Modernization” to the House for a vote. Taking action is simple.

Please reach out to your State Senator and House Representative with these two requests:
- Consider co-sponsoring HB 5155
- Urge the Environment Committee to send HB 5155 to the House floor for a vote.

HB 5155 is vitally important because it will:
- Improve DEEP’s ability to monitor use and investigate potential violations of State laws and regulations.
- Improve data quality for agricultural and environmental decision making.
- Align with CT DEEP’s 20BY26 government efficiency initiative.
- Help researchers detect emerging contamination trends.
- Build public trust. The public has a right to know, according to State law, what pesticides are being used where and how much.

To find your Legislators, see:
https://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/cgafindleg.asp

To learn more about the goals of HB 5155, see CT Pesticide Reform’s info sheet:
https://f01f7ceb-d80f-4145-b492-a2751281d3a6.filesusr.com/ugd/7fddc8_80277d265b3e4bb09ada318113356785.pdf

To read the text of HB 5155:
https://www.cga.ct.gov/2026/lcoamd/pdf/2026LCO03948-R00-AMD.pdf

To learn more about CT Pesticide Reform and other ways to help our environment from dangerous over used chemicals, see:
https://www.ctpesticidereform.org

YOU can make a difference,
Appreciatively,
Jim Dugan
VP Ct Butterfly Association
Past 2 term COA Board member
New Milford Xerces Soc Bee City activist

CT Pesticide Reform is a coalition of individuals and conservation organizations united in advocacy for a massive reduction in neonicotinoid (neonic) pesticides. Neonics are 7,000 times more lethal to insects than DDT. They pose an enormous threat to clean water and biodiversity. In Connecticut, neo...

03/31/2026

Just a reminder, as we gear up for a new season; if you want to post your sightings or get ID help, or just talk butterflies and moths , go to our group page via the link below.

Head over to our FB Group for sharing Lepidoptera sitings, ID help, etc. CT Butterfly Assn. Show & Tell -
https://www.facebook.com/groups/987615285458738

01/18/2026

Do you have a CT butterflying spot you'd like to add to our field trip list? We have members throughout the state, and while we have many outings from April-September, there are spots in CT that get passed over. You don't have to be a Lepidoptera expert to lead a walk. On most of our trips, we learn together. (You just have to not get us lost.) Meadows with pollinator plants are good, of course. Or trails through areas with flowering plants - coastal, inland, traversable wetlands, sandy are all possibilities... Our trips tend to run 2-3 hours on a Saturday or Sunday, and most start around 10AM. If you'd like to try something in the middle of the week, hmmm... that could be interesting... It would likely draw a smaller number of people, but that could be okay. We do tend to attract some of the nicest people in the New England, which make even a slow butterfly day, a good day.

If you're interested in exploring this idea, message us. We'll pass it on to our field trip coordinator Mary Nazarchyk. It would be nice to survey new areas to round out the records of what we find in the state, and where, and when. We don't collect specimens on our walks, but take lots of pictures! Would love to hear from you.

01/01/2026

Happy New Year, All! Here's the iNaturalist list of the 20 most-observed leps in CT. Not necessarily the most numerous, but the ones most felt inclined to share on the site. (Link to CBA's project page for more interesting stats - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/cba-s-butterflies-and-moths-of-connecticut)

07/18/2025

From CBA Conservation Com. member Jim Dugan:

From Xerces, Bee City and Campus.
The International Monarch Monitoring Blitz is a call to action for individuals, organizations and community scientists across North America to join efforts to conserve monarch butterflies and the habitat they depend upon.
This year’s Monarch Blitz will take place between 25 July and 3 August 2025.
MORE INFO AT:
https://www.cec.org/international-monarch-monitoring-blitz/
Jim Dugan
New Milford

The International Monarch Monitoring Blitz is a call to action for individuals, organizations and community scientists across North America to join