For Earth Day, tales of environmental projects that are making a difference, locally and beyond.
A West Virginia white butterfly photographed by Jim Dugan. They range in size from 1 3/4 to 2 1/8 inches across.
April 21, 2025—We’re celebrating Earth Day 2025 by publishing stories from around Connecticut of important, small-scale environmental projects — and their creators — from around Connecticut.
They are tales of optimism. Of people who decided that they’re going to take a stand against environmental degradation, and for birds, butterflies, and native plants — even if it’s a small stand on a local level.
Or maybe because it’s a small stand on a local level. On Earth Day 2025, “Think globally, act locally” never sounded better.
We start with a tale of butterfly conservation and will publish one or two a day through the end of the week. If you have a story to share, email it to tandersen@ctaudubon.org.
West Virginia White butterflies
by Jim Dugan, New Milford
I’m trying to save a colony of a very uncommon butterfly called the West Virginia White (Pieris virginiensis), which is a butterfly of rich, moist woodlands. This colony is in Washington Depot.
The West Virginia White’s limited populations have plummeted across its range in the past couple decades due to habitat loss, pesticide use and an invasive plant. This White relies on an ephemeral wildflower called toothwort to raise their caterpillars. Toothwort is in the mustard family.
Many of you are likely aware of the invasive plant called garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata). The W.V. White never evolved with this invasive garlic mustard. It was introduced from Europe onto Long Island in the 1860’s, and it has spread through much of the W.V. White’s range of the Appalachians, New York and into New England.
Jim Dugan and Rory Larson, of the Steep Rock Association, at the West Virginia white location. Photo by Dave Winston.
Females will readily lay eggs on it instead of on the native toothwort. The problem is the caterpillars cannot survive on the garlic mustard, and perish.
Garlic mustard has aggressively moved into this W.V. White colony site, as well as many other colonies, and without immediate action to remove the garlic mustard, this Washington Depot colony will certainly be eliminated.
This project is gratefully being conducted with the blessings of the CT Butterfly Association and also the Steep Rock Association, which owns the magnificent preserve where the colony is located.
In less than ten days my very small team of volunteers have removed over 600 newly sprouted garlic mustard plants from this less-than-two-acre colony site, and we are rushing to remove every last one before the West Virginia White flies as an adult around Earth Day.
Jim Dugan lives in New Milford. Five years ago he found several West Virginia White butterflies on Connecticut Audubon’s Croft Preserve, in Goshen. Thank you, Jim!
[The idea for this environmental story project came from a larger-scale project we read about in the New York Times.]
