Massachusetts Butterfly Club

Club Publications



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Massachusetts Butterflies is published twice a year, in the spring and fall, and mailed to all club members.

Cover of Spring 2013 Issue of 'Massachusetts Butterflies'

Table of Contents for Spring 2013 Issue of 'Massachusetts Butterflies'

The Spring 2013 issue of Massachusetts Butterflies is available. It was handed out to all members who attended the Spring meeting. It was mailed on March 25th to all other members. If you are a member and do not receive it before April 15th, please send email to barbara@massbutterflies.org.
Copies of this issue and recent back issues are available for $6.00 each - that cost includes postage! Please send a check made out to the Massachusetts Butterfly Club, to Barbara Volkle.

Back issues of Massachusetts Butterflies are available on our back issues webpage. Every issue that was published more than three years ago is available for download in PDF format there.

Some covers of back issues.

Submission of Articles, Illustrations, and Observation Records

We encourage all members to contribute to Massachusetts Butterflies. We welcome articles, illustrations, reports on butterfly sites and field trips around the state, gardening articles, and book reviews. Send these materials to Bill Benner by August 30 for the fall issue or by January 15 for the spring issue.

Please send 4th of July count records to Tom Gagnon by August 15 for the fall issue and your season sightings and records to Mark Fairbrother by December 31 for the spring issue. He will turn all of our records into a summary and inclusive tabulated record, as has been done in the past. Sending your records periodically during the season will make data entry an easier task.

Download Mark's Excel spreadsheet. You will greatly facilitate data entry if you enter your observations in the spreadsheet and e-mail it to him as an attachment.

The Massachusetts Butterfly Club
                      GUIDE TO GOOD BUTTERFLY SITES

From the Berkshires to the Cape and Islands, this GUIDE will lead you through twenty-six of the best butterfly-finding sites in the state. Written by well-known Massachusetts Butterfly Club field experts, this 142-page coil-bound book describes each site in detail, with original trail maps, sighting lists, directions, and hot tips!

Retail price: $14.95

To Order: Please send your name, mailing address, and a check made out to the Massachusetts Butterfly Club for $16.95 ($14.95 + $2.00 postage and handling), to Massachusetts Butterfly Club c/o Barbara Volkle. Please allow two weeks for delivery.

Checklist of the Butterflies of Massachusetts

The Field Checklist of the Butterflies of Massachusetts is based on over 92,000 records from members of NABA-MBC, from 1990 to 2008. The checklist, produced by former NABA-MBC Records Keeper, Erik Nielsen, features

  • charts of flight periods
  • whether a species occurs or not, in eastern/western/island MA
  • and overwintering status.
The checklist includes 103 of the approximately 125 species of butterflies that have been sighted in Massachusetts. Printed on heavy stock, this is a valuable document for both the beginning and advanced butterflier. It is folded into a handy pocket-sized card that can be easily carried in the field. Here's a sample of the checklist. (The real checklist has two more pages!)

Checklists can be purchased for $1.25 each, or 5 for $5, postage included, from the club's Vice President-West: Tom Gagnon

Please consider joining our club along with your purchase! You can become a MBC member by joining the North American Butterfly Association (NABA). Simply mail this application form to NABA headquarters.

While preparing the checklist, Erik Nielsen compiled fourteen years of Massachusetts butterfly observations into a handsome Massachusetts butterfly flight dates chart. Have a look!