West Virginia White Quest - No luck

[Steve Mirick]

Jane and I drove out to southern areas of the CT River area yesterday in
search of West Virginia White.  There are a colony or two across the
River in Vermont so we thought we'd give it a try.  I don't know of any
previous records.....at least recently in NH for this species.  We came
up empty and actually had very few butterflies for the day.

We visited the Ruth C. Warwick Preserve in Westmoreland.
https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/warwick-preserve/

Looks like some interesting plants are located there.  I think I saw
Downy Yellow Violet and Long-spurred Violet as two that are specialists
for this part of the State:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/358453740
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/358453737

But alas, no Cardamine (Two-leaved Toothwort) which is the host plant
for WV White.

We next visited the Mill Pond Sanctuary Trail in Walpole.
https://walpoleoutdoors.org/mill-pond/

We found a REAL NICE patch of Two-eaved Toothwort with lots of syrphids
and a few Azures nectaring in the flowers along this trail.  One WHITE
butterfly flew over at the Toothwort, but showed no interest in the
patch of flowers and I have no reason to suspect a WV White.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/358453722
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/358453716
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/358453707

We ended up the day with a few Azures, a few Cabbage Whites while
driving, and only a single Mourning Cloak!

Here is my complete list of submissions to iNaturalist.....you know it's
a slow day when I stop to look at the wild flowers!  :-)

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?d1=2026-05-04&d2=2026-05-04&user_id=stevemirick&verifiable=any

Steve & Jane Mirick
Bradford, MA

[George DeWolf]

I feel your pain, Steve (and Jane)! I’ve been to Bedell Bridge (Haverhill) twice and the Robert Chaffee Nature Preserve (Lyme) once this season hoping to find one, and I’ve struck out. I may have mentioned that I briefly had what I thought was one in hand at Bedell Bridge a few years ago. While retrieving it from a Petri dish and holding the wings between my thumb and forefinger, they felt so delicate that it seemed like it might disintegrate in my grasp—so I instinctively let it go. Darn!

I’ve been carrying a small flexible cooler with an ice pack in my pack in the hope that I’ll find another, be able to chill it down for a moment, and get a good look at the fainter vein lines (compared to the Mustard White) and the lack of yellow wash (Cecb/Tudor, Butterflies of the East Coast). Keep looking! It seems we’ve got a few more weeks before they stop flying.

George

[Lucy Golden]

I I counted 7 eastern pine elfins in the pussytoes in Franconia today, which is down from the 16 I could Ted at once last year, but it’s also a day earlier. In this late spring, I think their are just gathering the forces. 

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[Lucy Golden]

[Lucy Golden]

On Tue, May 5, 2026 at 2:12 PM Lucy Golden <lucygo...@gmail.com> wrote: