Fellow Butterfly Enthusiasts:
The Washington Area Butterfly Club (WABC) is committed to promoting the appreciation, understanding, study and conservation of butterflies and their habitats throughout the central Atlantic states and central Appalachia. WABC members:
* contribute to scientific knowledge about the ecological requirements and life histories of local butterflies through field trips and field studies.
* work with community groups, businesses, and government entities to preserve or restore habitat critical to the sustainability of local butterfly populations.
* serve as resources for formal and informal education and regional record maintenance about butterflies, their life histories, their distribution and abundance or scarcity, and their ecology.
* plan and develop butterfly-friendly gardens and landscape designs for personal and public enjoyment.
* mentor and support future generations of Lepidoptera enthusiasts, and welcome the opportunity to share their knowledge of the area’s butterfly fauna with anyone interested in the lives of these remarkable creatures.
To join, please print the WABC_Membership_Form, fill it out, and mail it with your dues to Rob Simmons at the address on the form. Your $10 dues give you access to members-only events and fellowship with others who share your appreciation of butterflies. The dues also go towards publicity expenses and conservation activities (determined by the members).
Great events held or planned for 2012 include a members-only visit behind the scenes at the National Museum of Natural History on January 28, our annual lecture on butterfly gardening February 23, a talk about the data from the Fourth of July Butterfly Counts March 22, members-only free early admission to the Wings of Fancy exhibit at Brookside Gardens, a members-only excursion to a large private butterfly preserve, educational lectures with field trips, and our annual potluck and flying season review.
Meetings often are held the fourth Thursday of most months and are free and open to the public, although occasional events are only for members and their guests. Before showing up, please ensure that a meeting is planned, either by sending an email to washbutterflies@gmail.com or by scrolling down to the “Events and Meetings” link in the right-hand column. Information about these events will be posted at the following:
• The Club’s Web site:
http://leplog.wordpress.com/washington-area-butterfly-club/
• The Club’s listserv:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/washbutterflies/
• The Club’s Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Washington-Area-Butterfly-Club/223913994330306
Renew now to support our efforts to educate both ourselves and the public and to conserve fragile populations of regional butterflies. We look forward to seeing you at our events and hearing about your adventures in the field or garden.
May 29, 2010 at 12:43
Does anyone from your club travel to community sites to talk about butterflies with kids and families? I am in the Baltimore area.
Patricia Paul
May 10, 2011 at 09:23
i am looking for a source for balt checkerspot eggs or cats. i have set up a small pond/bog in balt county and would like to try some there. any help would be appreciated.
thanks
May 30, 2011 at 16:25
I also would like to know if your club can do “run-out” presentations especially about gardening for butterflies. I am serving on a committee of the Rock Spring Garden club which is in the process of scheduling its monthly programs for 2011-2012. Several of our members have expressed an interest in this topic.
September 8, 2011 at 15:08
From a recent estate sale I rescued from the trash a 21in x 31in x 3in plexiglas display of 9 blue morpho and a dozen other assorted tropical butterflies. I have no use for this item but did not want to see it destroyed. I would be glad to give it to an appreciative butterfly lover if you contact me through this site.
Thanks.
September 15, 2011 at 09:20
I am a dcps teacher. I would love to have your display.
louisechap_20002@yahoo.com
September 15, 2011 at 15:21
Can anyone help to supply a DCPS classroom with some monarch caterpillar eggs or caterpillars?
November 3, 2011 at 07:11
[...] The Washington Area Butterfly Club emphasizes education about and appreciation and conservation of butterflies in the Washington, DC, area including Maryland and Virginia. Meetings are free and open to the public, although occasional events are only for members and their guests. Members also conduct various other butterfly-related activities including butterfly gardening, butterfly counts, conservation, and field trips. [...]
February 26, 2012 at 15:50
I’m looking forward to working as an interpreter in the Butterfly Garden on
the East side of the National Museum of Natural History. To be sure, I
also enjoyed my 4+ years in the Butterfly Pavillion with its exotic butterflies
& moths but my 80 year old knees object. The Butterfly Garden has great
signage and an excellent horticulturist. The Smithsonian is trying to help
improve the experience of visitors by linking gardens with museum exhibits
Hope to see WABC members in April !
Dex Hinckley
March 18, 2012 at 17:35
Good for you, Dex! Please see if the information sheet available at the Natural History garden has the Washington Area Butterfly Club’s correct URL, leplog.wordpress.com. Last time I saw the sheet it listed the old URL.
Rob Simmons
March 5, 2012 at 11:28
Hi,
I was running in Rock Creek Park last week (March 1st) with a friend and we were amazed to see a black butterfly with brownish/lighter outer margins flying roughly near the Nature Center. I could not find a listing of when butterflies emerge or migrate in the area. Obviously this has been a historically mild winter. My guess from looking at online identifiers was that it was a female Swallowtail. Are other people seeing butterflies yet? Would that be unusual? Please tell me if I am off on my id. Thanks
Rob
I normally am a birder but am getting into butterflies and we will put a butterfly garden/plantings in our new yard…any and all suggestions of appropriate and inexpensive resources would be appreciated.
March 12, 2012 at 19:09
Hi, Rob – sorry it’s taken so long to respond.. Almost certainly you were seeing Mourning Cloak (in the UK known as Camberwell Beauty). Check these images and see if they look like what you saw:
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Nymphalis-antiopa
March 21, 2012 at 09:42
I am interested in someone speaking about butterflies to our flower club meeting
Eastland Gardens Flower Club
April 25, 2012 at 05:50
[...] 1 Background information and discussions of other programs and activities sponsored by the Washington Area Butterfly Club (WABC), as well as information on how to join the WABC, are available at http://leplog.wordpress.com/washington-area-butterfly-club/ [...]