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USFWS 1985 Lotis Blue Butterfly Recovery Plan.Pdf

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USFWS 1985 Lotis Blue Butterfly Recovery Plan.Pdf LOTIS BLUE BUTTERFLY RECOVERY PLAN U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Program Port1 and, Oregon Approved : Regional Cirector, U.S. Fish and Wild1 ife Service I>/AL IPS/ I Date t THIS IS THE COPPLETED LOTIS BLUE BUTTERFLY RECOVERY PLAN. IT HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE. IT DOES NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL POSITIONS OR APPROVALS OF COOPERATING AGENCIES, AND IT DOES NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THE VIEWS OF ALL INDIVIOUALS WHO PLAYED THE KEY ROLE IN PREPARING THIS PLAN. IT HAS BEEN PREPARED UNDER CONTRACT BY DR. RICHARD A. ARNOLD, DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMOLOGY, LINIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, IN COOPERATION WITH THE 11.S. FISH AMC W :LLl?LIFE SERVICE, SACRAVENTO ENPANGEREO SPECIES OFFICE, TO DELINEATE REASORABLE ACTIONS THAT ARE BELIEVED REQUIRED TO PLACE THIS BUTTERFLY IN THE BEST POSSIBLE POSITION. THIS PLAN IS SUBJECT TO MODIFICATION AS DICTATED BY NEW FINDINGS AND CHANGES IN SPECIES STATUS AND COMPLETION OF TASKS DESCRIBED IN THE PLAN. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES WILL BE ATTAINED AND FUNDS EXPENDED CONTINGENT UPON APPROPRIATIONS , PRIORITIES AND OTHER BUDGET1 NG CONSTRAINTS. LITERATURE CITATION SHOULD READ AS FOLL@WS: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1985. Pecovery Plan for the Lotis Blue Butterfly. U.S. Fish and Wild1 ife Service, Portland, Oregon. 46 pp. Additional copies may he obtained from: Fish and Wildlife Reference Service Informatics General Corporati on 6011 Executive Boul evard Rockville, Maryland 20852 Tel ephone: 1-800-582-3421 In Flaryl and: (301) 770-3000 Executive Summary 1. Point or condition when species can be considered recovered. Presently, there is too little information to determine at what point the Lotis blue butterfly will be considered recovered. 'The interim recovery goal will be obtained when the single known colony is protected and three new, viable, sel f-sustai ning populations, each on at least 2 hectares of suitable habitat, are establ ished and protected. 2. What must be done to reach recovery? Preserve and protect the known Lotis blue butterfly population, devel op and implement management strategies, es tab1 ish three new sel f-sustaining , viable populations each on at least 2 hectares of suitable habitat, develop public awareness of Lotis blue butterfly, and enforce laws to protect Lotis blue butterfly and habi tat. What specifically must be done to meet the needs of #2? A. Preserve approximately 2 hectares of known habitat site from land use changes and minimize impacts from herbicides and insecticides. 0. Preserve hydro1 ogic and bi01 ogic (hostplants) resources for the species. C. Sel ect , secure and rehabi 1i tate addi tional habi tat sites by conducting surveys for additional habitat and host plants, protecting these sites, and implementing rehabil itation efforts. 4. What management/maintenance needs have been identified to keep the species recovered? Proper management and protection s houl d be continued , translocation sites monitored and yearly population monitoring should take place. Pub1 ic education and law enforcement efforts should be continued. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Part I INTRODUCTION ................ Brief Overview ............... Taxonomy .................. Habi tat Requirements ............ Habitat Description ............ Past and Present Distribution........ Life History ................ Reasons for kc1ine and Threats to Survival Part11 RECOVERY .................. Objectives ................. Step-down Out1 ine.............. Narrative ................. Literature Cited .............. Part II1 IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE .......... Part IV AGENCIES ASKED FOR REVIEW COMMENTS ..... Lotis Blue Butterfly Recovery Plan Part I Introduction Brief Overvi ew The 1otis blue butterfly [Lycaeides argyrognomon lotis (Lintner)] (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), may be the rarest resident butterfly in the continental United States. It is now known from only one local ity, a sphagnum bog in Mendocino County, Cal ifornia. Curing 1977-1981, only 16 adult specimens were seen in 42 days of field searching at the 2 hectare site (Arnold 1978, 1980, 1981a, and unpubl. data) . This site represents the on1 y known occupied habitat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) listed the lotis blue butterfly as an endangered species in 1976 (41 Federal Register 22041). Its survival is threatened largely by bi01 ogical and cl irnatic factors rather than primarily by actions of man. However land use changes have the potential to destroy known habitat and potential sites. One purpose of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, is "to provide means whereby the ecosystems upon which endangered species and threatened species depend may be conserved." This recovery plan I presents. information on the lotis blue butterfly's current and former distribution, and speculates (because of 1imi ted information) on its life history and requirements for survival. Characteristics of its known habitat are described. Additional research activities are proposed to provide insight for management and recovery of this endangered species and its habitat. Ta xonomy Lycaeides argyrognomon lotis (Lintner) is one of 12 subspecies described from North America (dos Passos 1964, Downey 1975). The type 1ocal ity is Mendoci no County, Cal ifornia (Lintner 1876). The lotis blue butterfly is morphologically distinguished from other races of the widely distributed species, Lycaeides argyroqnomon, by its size, wing color and maculation pattern. The lotis blue butterfly exhibits one of the largest wingspans of any Nearctic (New World Arctic) race of -L. argyrognomon. Wingspan averages sl ightly less than 2.5 cm, with a range of about 1.5 to 3.2 cm. The upper wing surfaces are a deep violet-blue in the male with a crenulate black border and fringe of white scales along the outer wing margin (tennen). In the female, the upper wing surface is brown, sometinies bluish-brown, with a wavy band of orange across the subtermen of the fore- and hindwings. An inconspicuous black crenulate band and fringe of white (frequently brown-white) scales 1ie along the termen. Ventral facies in both sexes are characterized by a grayish ground color with scattered black spots in the distal, subterminal and terminal areas. Light blue-green scales may be present basal ly. A wavy band of orange spots borders the termen of the hindwings in between two rows of sinuous black lines. Illustrations may be found in Nabokov (1949), Tilden (1965), and Howe (1975). Downey (1975) noted wide intra- and inter-populational variation in these morphological characteristics. Even though ohly 16 specimens of -L. -a. -lotis were observed during field work in 1977-1981, considerable morphological variation was noted (Arnold, pers. observ.). Hahi tat Requirements Habitat requirements of the lotis blue butterfly are poorly known. Other races of -L. argyrognomon utilize several legumes and larval 1 foodplants (Table 1). J. Emmel (pers. comm.) suspects that C. a. 1otis may use either coast trefoil (Lotus formosissimus) or Bolander's sweet pea (Lathyrus vestitus su bsp. bol anderi ) as 1arval foodplants. In 1970 he observed a female in oviposition behavior on Lotus formosissimus. A1 though most adul ts were observed in the bog, a few of the 16 adults seen by Arnold since 1977 were found along California Highway 1 in association with a small patch of coast trefoil less than 5 meters in diameter. Only a few specimens of the Lotus were found in the bog itself, but about 10 patches of it grow around the border of the bog. These patches vary in size from less than 1 m to 5 m in Dr. John F. Emmel, Hemet, CA. Table 1 Suspected food plants of several races of Lycaeides argyrognomon Race Food plant s Source Lupinus polyphyl lus C. Kellner (pers. comm.) As tragal us whi tneyi I1 I1 Lotus oblong if01 ius empetri Empetrum nigrum Downey 31975 Ledum palustre I1 Kalmia pol ifol ia Lotus formosissimus J. F. Emmel (pers. comm.) R. A. Arnold (pers. observ.) ricei Lupinus sp. Downey 31975 La thyrus torreyi 81 Vicia exigua Lotus sp. J. F. Emmel (pers. comm.) sub1 ivens Lupinus parviflorus Downey 31975 diameter, No specimens of Bolander's sweet pea were noted in the bog. kerweed (Lotus scoparius) was a1 so found on drier ground adjacent to the bog site. However, no adults of the lotis blue butterfly were found in association with either the deerweed or the sweet pea. Rice's blue butterfly [Lycaeides arqyrognomon ricei (Cross)] in northern California and the Anna blue butterfly [Lycaeides arqyrognomon -anna (W. F. Edwards)] use other Lotus species as their larval food-plants 1 (J. Emmel and C. Kellner , per. comm). Lycaeides 5. ricei is found in boggy meadows similar to L. a. lotis. Thus while the larval foodplant of C. 5. lotis has not been positively identified, Lotus formosissimus is the primary candidate. Habitat Description Historically, the lotis blue butterfly has been found in wet meadows and sphagum-willow bogs (Tilden 1965). Today the lotis blue butterfly is known only from a sphagnum bog in the Pygmy Forest, Mendocino County, Cal ifornia. The bog is surrounded by a closed-cone pine forest, dominated primarily by Bishop pine (Pinus muricata) with an ericaceous (Arctostaphylos, Kalmia, Gaul theria, etc. ) understory. It is bisected by a Pacific Gas and Electric Company power1 ine right-of- way. Other tree species that occur sporadically in the overstory Mr. Clinton Kellner, Department of Zoology, University of California, Davis. include -pygmy cypress (Cupressus pygmaea) and grand fir (hies grandis). Both species are dominant in the coastal coniferous forests of Washington and Oregon, but reach the southern limits of their distribution .in Mendocino County (Munz and Keck 1968). Two other major associates in the Pygmy Forest vegetation, beach pine. (Pinus contorta bar. bolanderi ) and Ft. Bragg manzanita (Arctostaphyl os nummularia), also grow at the site. A very dense shrub layer is present throughout the site. Dominant species in this layer include Cal ifornia huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum), western Labrador tea (Ledum glandul osum), salal (Gaul theria shallon), wax myrtle (Myrica californica), California rose-bay (Rhododendron macrophyllum), western halock (Tsuga heterophylla) and Sitka spruce (Picea- sitchensis).
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