April is not too soon to be looking for butterflies. In fact, a very special butterfly- the globally vulnerable West Virginia White needs your help. Several organization are conducting studies in which you might want to participate. I am attaching two letters and a couple of my photos of last years West Virginia Whites. Yes, they look a bit like the Common White, but they have no black spots. They also use native plants for a host plant, and studies show the invasive Garlic Mustard plant is VERY BAD for them. Learn more in the video below.
http://rkthb.co/41479 This video will teach you more about the West Virginia White.
I hope you will be watching for the West Virginia Whites and report back to either Dave or Samantha. Their letters are attached below. Thanks for helping us! Weedpicker Cheryl
Dear West Virginia White surveyors,
Thank you for all your help surveying
for the Globally Vulnerable West Virginia White butterfly on or near Museum
Natural Areas!
WVWs typically emerge mid-April as long as the weather
stays warm (above 60*F with clear skies) and fly to mid-May, basically as long
as there are dense stands of blooming wildflowers, especially host plant
cut-leaved and two-leaved toothworts and later blooming wild geranium stands.
Given the cool spring temps and very cold Lake Erie, the overall
flowering abundance levels of spring wildflowers will likely be behind schedule,
especially near and/or east of Lake Erie. Emergence of West Virginia White
butterflies from their overwintering pupae should also be behind
schedule.
Look for this Globally Vulnerable slow flying mainly
"in-the-rich-woods-only" butterfly laying eggs on cut-leaved toothwort
(Cardamine concatenata), or Two-leaved Toothwort (Cardamine diphylla), its'
required host-plants, which occurs in moist rich woodland areas, often found on
the slopes of gullies or other low areas with adequate moisture.
If you
do see a WVW, please document as much detail as you can.
Visit http://www.leapbio.org/resources/west-virginia-white for a survey form and instructions, and
http://www.leapbio.org/docs/WVW_Conservation_Plan_20070326.pdf for pics of the host plants, eggs, chrysalis, and the similar looking
European Cabbage White butterfly. The European Cabbage White, with VERY pale
black (mostly in early spring ECWs) fore-wing tips and black sex spots (1 spot
on male and 2 on spots on females) flies faster, more direct, and out in the
open and it also starts to fly in April. As uber volunteer Terri Martincic
says, "One trick I found is they {WVW} don't fly like the Cabbage Whites. If
you have to "chase" it it's a Cabbage White, if it stays in one area slowly
moving from one flower to another it's a West Virginia White".
Please
respond to this email if you are able to resurvey last year's Museum Natural
Area or if you are interested in surveying a new or additional area and we will
mail you an Access Permit to the those preserves.
Please email or mail
your observations of high count #'s, egg-laying, etc and any garlic mustard
sightings to us, and feel free to call with questions to the #
below.
Also check out the website http://westvirginiawhite.org for WVW
first emergence date(s) research.
Hope you have lots of good
finds.
Thanks,
David
--
David J. Kriska
Biodiversity
Coordinator
Natural Areas Division
Center for Conservation &
Biodiversity
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
1 Wade Oval, University
Circle
Cleveland, OH 44106
 |
| West Virginia White |
Hi all -
I'm writing to share with you a video that I wrote and produced about the
West Virginia White and my research. The video is in the context of a
crowdfunding campaign. I'm using this to raise money for my final year of
research. If I raise enough, I'll be able to travel to many remote field sites
and enhance our understanding of the West Virginia White and its relationship to
garlic mustard. Even if you can't donate, please consider sharing the video and
page with friends and family. I do offer small "rewards" for donations-- framed
pictures, photo coasters, special Skype QA sessions, and the like.
URL: http://rkthb.co/41479 This video will teach you more about the West Virginia White.
The great thing about this campaign is that it is "keep what you earn"
which means that I don't have to reach a goal for your money to help me with
covering costs of fuel, camping, and lab supplies. We've currently got enough
raised to cover four nights of camping, but none of the other costs associated
with research (fuel, lab supplies, field supplies, undergraduate help).
Again, if you can't donate, please share with friends and family and check
out the video anyway, because you can see some of the pictures and videos I've
taken during the last 4 years of working on this majestic rare butterfly.
Thanks!
Sam(antha) Davis
Environmental Sciences Ph.D. Candidate
Wright State University, Dayton, OH
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