NORTH AMERICAN BUTTERFLY ASSOCIATION

4 Delaware Road, Morristown, NJ 07960 tel. 973-285-0907 fax 973-285-0936

Visit our web site at www.naba.org

SUCCESSFUL BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT compiled and edited by Ann B. Swengel, 2004

© 2004 North American Butterfly Association, Inc. All rights reserved.

Urban, suburban, and rural; north, south, east, and west: these examples of successful butterfly conservation management comprise a wide range of species, circumstances, and locations. But they all have in common that local butterfly experts studied the butterflies in their area and learned how to cater to their needs. These projects made use of long-term datasets of butterfly observation to identify species in need and to determine the course of conservation management efforts. Through articles, scientific papers, checklists, and/or NABA Butterfly Counts, these experts have shared the results of their efforts to enhance the local butterfly community, with special emphasis on species that are localized or rare in that area.

NEW JERSEY AUDUBON'S CAPE MAY flower/grass meadow extends around the BIRD OBSERVATORY CENTER FOR property just beyond the "formal" gardens, RESEARCH AND EDUCATION which aren't formal in the typical sense. The meadow offers a complement of additional The "Model Backyard Habitat" at the Cape caterpillar food plants for an array of skippers May Bird Observatory Center for Research and other butterflies. The meadow is mowed and Education has extensive gardens for but- once each spring, to allow that plant matter to terflies, hummingbirds, hummingbird , remain as long as possible but not to interfere bees, birds and other wildlife. In addition to with the next season's growth. The site has the "Caterpillar Food Plant Garden," many many native trees, shrubs, and vines around caterpillar food plants are incorporated into the edge of the meadow, as well as others the other gardens. The gardens are not tidied integrated into the gardens, further comple- up in the fall, and this is explained to visitors: menting the gardens' planted host plants. Part that in "cleaning up," next year's butterflies of the property is a tidal saltmarsh, explaining (mostly in immature life stages) would be dis- the wealth of Aaron's Skippers, Saltmarsh carded amongst all the plant stems. Through Skippers, Broad-winged Skippers, and even the winter, visitors observe wintering birds Rare Skippers in the garden, all species that feeding on many of the seed heads left in the return to the saltmarsh to lay their eggs. garden and learn that the untidy garden is Watering is minimal, if at all, to set a good intentional as a winter bird feeder. The wild- example (only four times during the summer

President: Jeffrey Glassberg; Vice-President: James Springer; Secretary/Treasurer: Jane V. Scott Directors: Brian Cassie, Fred Heath, Steven Prchal, Robert Robbins, Patricia Sutton, Guy Tudor drought of 2001). The dragonfly pond is alive surrounded by a split rail fence; a new with dragonflies and damselflies, frogs, and building sits beyond a large parking lot. nectaring butterflies on the blooming pickerel- Directions from the New York City weed. This site attracts nesting Eastern Blue- area: Take the Garden State Parkway south to birds and Purple Martins. As Pat Sutton, Exit 13 (Swainton). Turn right (west) at the Program Director, observed early in 2003, "It's bottom of the exit ramp and continue to Route been an exciting project, that despite the 9. Turn left (south) onto Route 9 and drive a drought, looked fabulous during those two short ways to Route 646 (Goshen-Swainton years [2001 and 2002]. We use no herbicides Road). Turn right onto Route 646 through and pesticides, because this would kill the but- two stop signs. Soon after the 2nd stop sign terflies we want to increase. We offer weekly you will intersect with Route 47 in Goshen. butterfly and garden walks, and an opportunity Turn right (north) onto Route 47 and go 1.7 for volunteers to work in the garden (one miles to the CMBO Center for Research and morning a week, spring to fall) with Karen Education which will be on your right (just Williams, owner of Flora for Fauna Nursery around a bend in the road). It is surrounded and the person who has planted and maintains by a split rail fence; a new building sits our gardens for us. Our 'Model Backyard beyond a large parking lot. Habitat' is still evolving and not a finished product yet. We're planting as money and BUENA VISTA volunteers are available. Our gardens are not GRASSLAND, the typical picture-perfect garden, but true WISCONSIN wildlife gardens–alive with butterflies and their caterpillars, hummingbirds, bees, a Buena Vista variety of ornate wasps, hummingbird moths, Grassland is praying mantids, ladybugs, and more!" managed for the For more information: Cape May Bird Greater Prairie- Observatory, Center for Research and Chicken, a bird Education, 600 Route 47 North, Cape May listed as Court House, NJ 08210; phone 609-861-0700; endangered in www.njaudubon.org. Wisconsin and of To visit: Open DAILY, 9:00 AM to 4:30 conservation PM. Free / no admittance fee. concern Directions from the Philadelphia area: throughout its Take Route 95 South to the Commodore Barry range. This land was formerly drained and Bridge into New Jersey, follow Route 322 to farmed, but now has reverted back to Route 55. Take Route 55 south to Route 47 grassland vegetation composed mostly of south to Route 347 south (which rejoins Route weedy species, both native and non-native. 47 just north of Dennisville). Continue south But the community is quite impressive. on Route 47 through Dennisville, past the turn Besides the Greater Prairie-Chicken, an out- off for Route 83, continue on Route 47 standing array of grassland birds lives here, through the traffic light at Route 657 and from such as Upland Sandpiper, Henslow's and here the CMBO Center for Research and Grasshopper Sparrows, and Short-eared Owl. Education will be on your left in exactly 1 As for butterflies, this site hosts the largest mile (just around a bend in the road). It is known population in the state of the Regal

2 Fritillary, also listed as endangered in the state this mosaic of and of range-wide conservation concern. different vegeta- The Regal Fritillary Comprising over 14,000 acres in several tive structures and thrives at Buena Vista tracts near each other, Buena Vista is managed management his- Grassland, despite the in a rotation of units with a variety of tories provides weedy and non-native management types. Cattle-grazing occurs in different micro- vegetation and because about 5% of the site per year, in areas penned habitats that cater of the favorable hab- with temporary fencing. Brushy areas are to the different itat management here. often mowed first, since the cows don't eat the preferences of the mature brush nearly so much as they enjoy various bird species. munching on the tender resprouts, which Even though the results in effective brush control. This grazing Regal Fritillary is usually occurs over only one growing season the quintessential in any given area. Then the unit is rested from native prairie grazing for at least several years. Likewise, butterfly, it thrives haying and burning occur on up to 5% of the at Buena Vista, site per year, in different units each year. which contains rel- Brush-cutting and localized herbicide atively little native treatments of brush occur on small areas per prairie vegetation. year as well. All of these managements occur Despite the check- in units of about 20-120 acres scattered around ered history of the vegetation here, Buena the site. Thus, in any given area, treatment Vista provides the essential floristic elements occurs on a relatively small scale. Plus, these needed by the Regal Fritillary (violets living treatments are not evenly mixed and matched in a consistent grassland-type vegetation across the site. While some units have re- structure), although not in the typical context ceived a mixture of management types, many of intact native prairie. Most of the grassland other units have only been hayed, or only experiences no management in a given year, burned, or only grazed, or none of the above– so that direct mortality to the butterflies some areas have been left idle (unmanaged) themselves is kept low. Plus the combination for many years, or received only localized of management techniques used here is highly brush management within them by cutting or effective at maintaining grassland, by keeping herbiciding. brush at bay. While it remains utterly This combination of managements remarkable that Regal Fritillaries can thrive in maintains open grassland (not overrun by trees degraded vegetation, these other landscape and brush) in a variety of conditions (taller or and management factors at Buena Vista shorter grass, thinner or thicker dead grass on clearly are effective at mitigating this the ground, varying amounts of brush from vegetative factor, which is usually very none to scattered bushes to thicker brush). unfavorable for Regal Fritillaries. The This is beneficial to the Greater Prairie-Chick- grassland management here happens to be en because this bird requires different types of very favorable for this butterfly, even though grassland vegetation for different functions, the management was designed for a bird, not such as the "booming" grounds where they butterflies. perform courtship displays, nesting habitat, Other butterfly species of note at this site and woody roosting habitat for winter. Other include coppers: Gray, as well as Bronze and grassland bird species also benefit because American (localized species here). The

3 "weediness" of the site is beneficial to these Alana saw a segment about butterfly species because their caterpillar food plants gardening on ABC's former television are native and non-native docks, which are program, "Home Show". Lana followed weedy by nature. through on this intriguing idea when she came For more information on Regal across an article in the local paper by Florida Fritillaries: gardening expert Anne Kilmer, which listed "Regal Fritillary: Prairie Royalty" by Ann what plants attracted which butterflies. Swengel, pages 4-9 in American Butter- Passionvine (Passiflora suberosa) covers a flies volume 1: number 1, February 1993. gazebo where Zebra Heliconians and the "Rearing Regals for Reintroduction: Playing Edwards often gather. Passionvines, as well the Odds But Still Losing Ground" by as pipevine for Polydamas Swallowtails, drape David Wagner, pages 19-23 in American trellises throughout the yard. In the backyard, Butterflies volume 3: number 2, Summer footpaths traverse the original butterfly 1995. garden, which measures 35 feet by 25 feet. "Help Save Regal Fritillaries" inside front Various phases of additional gardens have cover in American Butterflies volume 5: been installed since then. Stinging nettle, an number 1, Spring 1997. outstanding caterpillar food plant, is relegated "Open Habitats for Butterflies" by Ann Swen- to a far corner of the yard for obvious reasons. gel, pages 12-20 in American Butterflies Their yard doesn't naturally have any volume 4: number 4, Winter 1996. damp areas. So the Edwards built an "Regal Fritillary Update" inside front cover in ornamental pond with some boggy areas American Butterflies volume 6: number 1, bordering it to provide the right conditions for Spring 1998. moisture-loving plants, such as water hyssop, "Regal Fritillaries in a Tailspin: a story of East buttonbush, white vine, willows, canna, and and West, DNA, and the urgent need for pickerel weed, a great nectar flower. the conservation of a flagship species" by Although butterflies require sunshine, it Barry Williams, pages 16-25 in American can become very hot in south Florida. In the Butterflies volume 7: number 4, Winter very hottest part of 1999. the day, the butter- www.naba.org (the website of the North Ame- flies may prefer rican Butterfly Association) areas of dappled To visit: Wisconsin Department of sun. For this rea- Natural Resources, Ranger Station, P.O. Box son, caterpillar food 100, Friendship, WI 53934. plants such as passionvine occur in BACKYARD B UTTERFLY GARDENING IN a variety of ex- SUBURBAN SOUTHEASTERN FLORIDA posures. This diverse On a lot only 90 feet by 110 feet, the Edwards haven for butterflies family–David and Lana and their daughter has arisen in a yard Alana–have created a subtropical oasis for that was a virtual butterflies in the midst of the heavily monoculture of St. Atala caterpillars populated and urbanized southeastern Florida Augustine sod, feeding on coontie accomplished by coast. This haven where over 45 species of (Zamia pumila). butterflies have been recorded began when people who had

4 never done more than routine yard NABA chapters) and participate in its maintenance until inspired by butterflies. meetings and field trips. Well over 100 varieties of plants now grace their yard. CREX MEADOWS, WISCONSIN Lana's top nectar flowers include butterfly sage (Cordia globosa: a magnet for About 30,000 acres of pools, wetlands, upland hairstreaks and blues), ageratum (for Queens barrens, and forest are managed for waterfowl and Soldiers), Pentas (Pentas lanceolata: red, and Sharp-tailed Grouse at Crex Meadows hot pink, and white, more so than light pink in northwestern Wisconsin. Adjoining tracts of and lavender), and several species of Lantana: Burnett County Forest offer additional habitat, involucrata (a tall shrub), depressa (a ground primarily upland forests, openings, and bar- cover), and montevidensis (trailing). A plate rens but also some marshes. One butterfly oc- of rotting fruit can attract Malachites and Red curs in these sites that has federal legal Admirals. Favorite caterpillar food plants are protection as an endangered species: the passionvine (for Zebra and Julia Heliconians 'Karner' Melissa Blue (in the naming system and Gulf Fritillary), fennel (Black Swallow- of the NABA checklist, a subspecies is indi- tail), cassias (Cloudless and Orange-barred cated with single quotes; this butterfly is also Sulphurs), plumbago (Cassius Blue), and pep- known as the Karner Blue). The Phlox pergrass and arugula (Great Southern White). ( indiana), also known as the Phlox A butterfly of conservation note hosted in Flower Moth, is a small species active during the Edwards' yard is the Atala. A species the day, and has state-level protection as an native to southern Florida and the Caribbean, endangered species. the Atala declined and disappeared from These butterfly and moth species require Florida due to overharvest of its caterpillar unforested vegetation containing their food plant, coontie (Zamia pumila, a cycad), caterpillar food: wild lupine ( and land development. In the last several perennis) for the 'Karner' and flower parts of decades, the Atala has made a comeback to the downy phlox () for the moth. southern Florida, often in association with These wildflowers occur widely at Crex horticultural plantings of coontie. Meadows, where the management for Sharp- For more information: This article is tailed Grouse adapted and excerpted from: aims for a mix "A Butterfly Garden for All (Family) of both grassy Reasons" by Kathy Cavanaugh Malone, and brushy, pages 20-26 in American Butterflies unforested up- volume 4: number 2, Summer 1996. lands through "Palm Beach County (Southeastern Florida) tree removal, Regional Butterfly Gardening Brochure" brush-cutting, by Kathy Malone with assistance from and burning. Lana and Alana Edwards, downloadable The 'Karner' from www.naba.org. Melissa Blue To visit: This is private home and is not responds open to public visitation. But area residents relatively well can join the NABA-Atala Chapter (see to the fire A female 'Karner' Melissa www.naba.org for more information on management, Blue nectaring on an . despite the 5 direct mortality to its immature life stages, novative adjustment to the fire management which are typically above-ground throughout regime was the establishment of permanent the butterfly's life cycle. This may be due to non-fire "refugia". In consultation with the lush response of lupine to fire and to the butterfly experts who had extensively blue's multiple generations per year, which surveyed the site, managers identified areas to allows the butterfly to capitalize on the flush set aside as non-fire-management zones. of lupine growth. However, it is essential that These areas had to be convenient logistically unburned habitat occupied by Karners occurs to exclude from fire, of course, but were also in each Karner population area at Crex selected to be as valuable to as many localized Meadows each year, to avoid eliminating the species of butterflies and moths as possible, butterfly population. Phlox Moths appear to especially the 'Karner' Melissa Blue and Phlox have some direct protection from fire Moth. These units are receiving other kinds of mortality, since this group of moths typically management such as brush-cutting, and in overwinters as a cocoon underground. some cases, managers started brush-cut-only However, fires in spring, when typically zones. conducted at Crex, can significantly delay After these management changes were phlox sprouting, so that it is out of synchrony implemented, an overall increase in Karner with the timing of the moth's life cycle. numbers, and widespread occurrence of Phlox To ensure protection of the Karners, Moth, has occurred at the site over the last federal regulations required modification of decade. Crex Meadows and adjoining Burnett the fire management here. The managers County Forest also support populations of created detailed maps of both the lupine and other barrens- associated butterflies, including the results of their surveys for Karners. This Olympia Marble, Hoary Elfin, Silvery Blue, ensures that too much lupine (not more than Western Tailed-Blue, Persius and Mottled Dus- 1/3 of the area supporting lupine) does not get kywings, and Dusted and Leonard's Skippers. burned in a given year and that burned lupine For more information on the 'Karner' patches have Melissa Blue: nearby unburned "Karner Blue Sing Your Purple Song" by Karner sites Robert Dirig, pages 14-20 in American (within 500 Butterflies volume 5, number 1, Spring meters, or 0.3 1997. miles), so that "Definitive Destination: Pine-Oak Barrens in recolonization of Central Jackson County, Wisconsin" by burned areas Ann Swengel, pages 18-27 in American occurs as rapidly Butterflies volume 6, number 3, Fall 1998. as possible. To visit: DNR Ranger Station, 325 In some Highway 70, P.O. Box 367, Grantsburg, WI cases, to ac- 54840. complish this, managers ex- SCHAUS' SWALLOWTAIL IN SOUTHERN Phlox Moth (Schinia cluded a portion FLORIDA indiana) perching on its of a unit from caterpillar food plant, fire when the Spectacularly beautiful, Schaus' Swallowtail is downy phlox (Phlox unit was burned. a Caribbean butterfly that historically reached pilosa). The most in- the Florida Keys and the Miami area. It in-

6 habited tropical hardwood hammocks, which trees with a wider are slightly elevated limestone areas with distribution than tropical deciduous trees growing on them. Dr. the butterfly in the Thomas C. Emmel began study of this species hammocks of in 1984, when the U.S. Fish & Wildlife south Florida, the Service (USFWS) asked his research group at Bahamas, and the the University of Florida at Gainesville to do a West Indies. status survey. They found fewer than 70 Schaus' Swallow- adults that year, restricted to three small keys tail adults fly in a in Biscayne National Park and a tiny colony single generation on the northern tip of Key Largo. per year, starting To research the historical range of Schaus' in late April and Because of the rarity Swallowtail in Florida, Dr. Emmel and his persisting into late of the Schaus' Swal- team scoured scientific publications and June. This ex- lowtail, the closely re- interviewed lepidopterists. In the early 20th tended flight per- lated but more abun- century, the tropical hardwood hammock on iod may be a dant Giant Swallowtail Key West had already been cleared for response to the was used in experi- housing and commercial buildings, and the vagaries of the ments to test the butterfly was extirpated there while still rainy season, toxicity of pesticides inhabiting the less settled Keys. The relative which may begin on the swallowtails. scarcity of collectors and naturalists in the rest in April or as late of the Keys during the first half of the 20th as July in drought years. With the first rains, century made it difficult for biologists to learn the torchwood and wild lime trees put out a the details of the species' range or to learn flush of new growth, on which adult females about possible waxing and waning of local lay their eggs. The caterpillars complete populations. The species has been thought to development by late June or early July. The be near extinction in Florida before, in the late pupas then diapause (go dormant) through the 1930s when its center of abundance was hot summer and fall, and dry warm winter, thought to be Upper and Lower Matecumbe until the adults emerge at the onset of the next Keys. Subsequent work in the 1950s showed summer's rainy season. that the butterfly's main stronghold was In trying to account for the loss of Schaus' actually on Key Largo, in the almost Swallowtail from so much of its former range, undisturbed hammocks there. As the species the researchers looked at all the obvious fac- was being lost from the rest of the keys and tors, such as habitat destruction. South Flor- mainland Florida, hundreds could still be seen ida's tropical hardwood hammocks are almost in a day by experienced observers on Key entirely occupied by urban and suburban Largo through 1972. But starting in 1973, the development. They also looked at the influ- population declined precipitously, culminating ence of major storms, charting the occurrence in its near loss by 1984. In 1977, it was listed of major hurricanes and subsequent relative as a threatened species by the USFWS, and abundance (or scarcity) of the species as upgraded to endangered status in 1984. judged from specimens in museum and private The caterpillars of Schaus' Swallowtail collections. Much of the species' loss in the feed on two species of tropical trees, wild lime Lower and Middle Keys was obviously corre- (Zanthoxylum fagara) and torchwood (Amyris lated with habitat destruction. However, that elemifera). These are common, low-growing explanation did not hold for the northern half

7 of Key Largo, where a relatively large area of In June 1992, Emmel's team was authorized to tropical hardwood hammock still remained, remove 100 Schaus' Swallowtail eggs from yet the butterfly was mysteriously absent after the wild population in Biscayne National Park 1972. and form a captive breeding program at the One possibility was some major change in University of Florida. During the summer, the pesticide spraying program in the Florida they reared nearly 50 pupas to diapause. Keys by the Monroe County Mosquito Just two months later, on August 24, 1992, Control District. The research team learned Hurricane Andrew slammed into Biscayne that in 1972, the District had switched from National Park and the northern tip of Key Lar- using the pesticide Malathion to aerial appli- go, destroying much of the hammock habitat cation of Dibrom and truck application of and covering Biscayne Bay's islands with a Baytex. While this correlation with the de- saltwater storm surge. The following year, at cline of Schaus' Swallowtail was suggestive, it the height of the flight season, only 17 adults did not prove causality. With a grant from the were found in 2 weeks of surveys in Biscayne Elizabeth Ordway Dunn Foundation of south National Park by 8 researchers. Fortunately, Florida and subsequently from the DuPont more had survived to the south on Adams Fund in Jacksonville, Dr. Emmel's research Key, and a few also on Key Largo. But the team started a series of elaborate experiments most Schaus' Swallowtails in Florida resided to test these and other mosquito-control in captivity at the University of Florida. pesticides against the caterpillar and adult In every natural catastrophe, there may be stages of the butterflies. They chose the Giant a silver lining. The damage wrought by Swallowtail as a surrogate species in these Hurricane Andrew opened up the hardwood experiments, utilizing thousands of caterpillars hammocks by felling most of the older trees. reared for this purpose at Butterfly World. By June of 1993, the wild lime and torchwood The results soon showed that the Dibrom and trees that had not been killed were re- Baytex concentrations being sprayed in the sprouting in lush growth that provided Schaus' Keys were at least 400 times more concen- females with abundant egg-laying sites. trated than the minimum lethal dose needed to The USFWS also strongly supported the kill a butterfly (not to mention a mosquito). In experimental reintroduction of the butterfly to January 1991, these results were unveiled to areas in the Middle and Lower Keys, by the public and government agencies, and the selecting proper hammocks that could serve as use of Baytex has been discontinued (Dibrom reintroduction sites and asking the Monroe remained in use in Florida). County Mosquito Control Agency to keep The USFWS and State of Florida also these areas free of mosquito spraying during asked the Monroe County Mosquito Control the butterfly's flight period each year. For site District to stop spraying their properties in the selection, the team mapped every caterpillar northern half of Key Largo, and with that halt, foodplant in every hammock potentially the butterfly rebounded. By June 1992, 6-8 suitable for Schaus' Swallowtail in all the small colonies were thriving on northern Key Keys. Largo, in addition to the large population left But bureaucratic hurdles remained. on the keys in Biscayne National Park. University and state red tape delayed Nevertheless, USFWS finally agreed with construction of large-scale rearing facilities, Dr. Emmel's repeated warnings that these pop- despite generous grants from Ron Boender of ulations occurred in so small an area that a Butterfly World, the National Fish and single catastrophe could wipe out the species. Wildlife Foundation, and USFWS. During

8 1992-93 and again in 1993-94, most of the were generously provided at no charge by Ron butterflies were reared in an apartment kitchen Boender. and private home! Finally, by early spring When the adults emerged, they were 1994, adequate rearing facilities were ready on mated in captivity and then taken to the seven campus. By May, over 1700 wild lime trees sites that had been approved for releases in were in culture as the primary caterpillar 1995. Lack of funding greatly curtailed foodplant, with over 50 torchwood trees for efforts to monitor the results of both the 1995 stimulating egg laying. Hundreds of nectar and 1996 reintroductions. The State of plants, including pentas, buddleias, and Florida canceled their promised funding as lantanas, were propagated as well. well. The summer 1996 captive breeding Approximately 1500 pupas were overwintered work was made possible by another large in the lab in 1994-95, but almost half died due grant from Dr. Turner, a small grant from the to the excessive dryness in the air-conditioned North American Butterfly Association, and laboratory. Most of the surviving pupas were personal funds from the research team itself. placed back in to the wild, at sites within the Fortunately, this tided the program over until historic range, while 90 pupas were kept at the March 1997, when USFWS decided to fund lab for the next round of captive breeding. the captive breeding program again, and After the pupas were placed in the wild in reimburse the University of Florida for funds April 1995, camouflaged on tree trunks, most advanced in 1996 in anticipation of USFWS were eaten by small mammals as well as birds funding. due to three unseasonable cold fronts that During and since that particularly caused "sitdowns" of northward flying war- harrowing entanglement of red tape, the blers. Nevertheless, some adults did emerge research team has persevered in recovery and reproduce, and eggs and young cat- efforts for the Schaus' Swallowtail. erpillars were later found at the release sites. Reintroductions have continued, both in the Because so many of the released pupas did Keys over as wide a geographic scope as not survive, the team decided to release adults possible and within the historic range on the in 1996. Pupal survival in captivity also mainland. The team has also grown and improved, because they were put outside the planted out hundreds of Schaus' food plants lab in a vented, screened greenhouse. both in sites used for reintroduction and in Bureaucratic hurdles re-appeared. No sites nearby, where natural recolonization can funding came from USFWS since July 1995, occur from existing populations. Efforts to and the funding drought continued at the worst enhance natural recolonization include possible time, when maximum manpower and planting nectar flowers in golf courses that field expenses were encountered. With a occur near occupied and potential habitat. generous donation of $25,000 from Dr. J.D. This has required an "incidental take permit" Turner of Huntsville, Alabama, the captive for participating groups, because an accident breeding program could continue through the might inadvertently harm a Schaus' spring of 1996, generating 800 pupas for Swallowtail, which is illegal due to its reintroduction efforts. But plans for intensive endangered status. The team hopes to field work had to be scaled back due to lack of recommend that Schaus' Swallowtail be funds. In May 1996 the team transported the removed from the endangered species list in pupas to Fort Lauderdale and set up an several years. This species' successful emergency facility at Butterfly World, where a recovery from tiny populations within number of large, screened flight enclosures Biscayne National Park, and re-establishment

9 at reintroduction sites, show that this butterfly State Highway 905 in the middle of Key is a survivor. Given help to circumvent or Largo. From there, drive north to the Card overcome human-caused hazards such as Sound Bridge Road, and then proceed north mosquito control spraying, and restore about 3/4 mile toward the Ocean Reef Club caterpillar foodplants in its habitat, Schaus' development. Just south of that private owned Swallowtail is capable of bouncing back and commercial development, you will encounter thriving. trails and old roads leading through the For more information: This article is various state and federal tracts of hardwood adapted and excerpted from: hammock. These areas you can drive to are "Schaus' Swallowtail: A beleaguered good places to see Schaus' Swallowtail from aristocrat teeters on the edge of extinction late April to early June. Males are more likely in the Florida Keys" by Thomas C. to be flying slowly and nectaring along open Emmel, pages 18-22 in American trails, while females prefer to fly back in the Butterflies volume 2: issue 1, February hammock most of the time. 1994. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State "Is Schaus' Swallowtail Finally Licked?" by Park, Key Largo. This park, located several Thomas C. Emmel and Jaret C. Daniels, miles south of the junction of US Highway 1 pages 20-26 in American Butterflies with Highway 905, includes more than 100 volume 5: number 2, Summer 1997. acres of tropical hardwood hammock in which Keynote address by Dr. Thomas C. Emmel at Schaus' Swallowtail may be seen. Contact: the North American Butterfly John Pennekamp State Park, P.O. Box 487, Association's Biennial Members Meeting Key Largo, FL 33037. (305) 451-1202. in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, May 18- 21, 2000. MIRROR LAKE STATE PARK, WISCONSIN Where to visit: Biscayne National Park. Drive to Florida City, south and east of In 1988, Ann and Scott Swengel, local vol- Homestead, to the park headquarters on unteers, initiated butterfly surveys at Mirror Biscayne Bay. Take a boat out 7 miles across Lake State Park, in south central Wisconsin, in Biscayne Bay to Elliott Key Harbor, where the a sandy barren dominated by little bluestem island headquarters are located. Walk along amongst scat- Spite Highway Trail down the central part of tered stands of A Dusted on a the island, or take the Nature Trail. From late jack pine. That dead grass stem. April through early June there is a reasonable first year, three expectation of seeing Schaus' Swallowtail. localized skip- Adams Key also supports an accessible pers of "special hardwood hammock with a short cleared trail, concern" to the where many Schaus' Swallowtail can usually Wisconsin De- be observed in season. Take plenty of partment of Nat- mosquito repellent and wear a long-sleeved ural Resources shirt, because if the rains have started, the were found: mosquitoes will be superabundant! Contact: Cobweb, Dust- Biscayne National Park, 9700 SW 328 Street, ed, and Leo- Homestead, FL 33033-5634. (305) 230-7275. nard's Skippers. Northern Key Largo. Drive south on US But in the next Highway 1 from Miami to its junction with four years, these

10 species be-came more difficult to locate, as cut small pines, adult volunteers from the their grassy habitat be-came more and more Beauty Council would have to chainsaw overgrown with trees. mature pines ahead of the annual work day. Then, in 1993, Bill Klang, a science teach- The cut pines could not be removed from the er from the high school in nearby Reedsburg park, as this ran afoul of contracting regu- asked the Sauk County Natural Beauty Coun- lations for timber extraction, nor would they cil, on which Ann serves, about any projects be burned in the park, because of safety suitable for their students to participate in as concerns. So students drag them into the an Earth Day project. With the blessing of shade of pine groves that aren't going to be cut Jerry Trumm, superintendent of the state park, down. These piles of pines subside quickly the council proposed to coordinate a project and compactly, and do not pose a significant for them to restore the grassy habitat by fire hazard because of the gradual nature of reducing canopy in this pine barren. the pine cutting (i.e., the piles do not start out Mindful of the constraints imposed by huge). Even the stubby stumps left in the state park regulations and the source of vol- openings disintegrate in a few years. unteers, the council designed the restoration Since the prairie-like vegetation in the specifically to benefit the localized butterflies. barren was dominated by grasses, the project The encroaching trees needed to be removed also seeds in forbs (wildflowers) suitable for with as little disturbance as possible to the butterfly nectaring. This has the side effect of grassy habitat and its associated butterflies, so adding a "constructive" activity that balances this ruled out burning the habitat (typical in the tree removal, which is ironic for an Earth midwestern restorations), as this would kill Day program! Beauty Council volunteers col- butterflies, mostly when in immature life lect seed during summer and fall from in the stages. Fortunately, mature jack pines do not park, with permission from the park, which is resprout from stumps, so cutting them down is stored on an unheated porch until the students sufficient to eliminate them. Canopy removal sow them the following April. They scratch was targeted to get the most gain in size and the seeds into the soil surface of bare spots, connectivity of the openings with the least tree sometimes with rakes but mostly by hand. removal. But this would occur bit by bit over Native prairie vegetation has rapidly re- many years, so that the native prairie-like established in the habitat restoration where flora, which is composed mostly of perennial pines were cut, especially little bluestem plants that spread slowly, could re-establish on (Andropogon scoparius) and rough blazingstar its own. Opening up large areas rapidly would ( aspera), a favorite butterfly nectar give weeds greater advantage over the prairie source, even where the canopy had previously plants in re-establishment. This low-intensity been dense. No bluestem was seeded, and but long-term approach was well suited to the rough blazingstar (a slow-establishing source of volunteers: a busload of students for perennial) flowered faster than possible due to one April morning each regeneration from seed. This rapid floral year since 1993. recovery is testament to the durability of the While the students perennial roots of prairie plants. Blazingstar, could pull up saplings horsemint (Monarda punctata), birdfoot violet and use loppers and (Viola pedata), and gray goldenrod ( band saws loaned from nemoralis) have all flowered in areas where the local office of The they hadn't been seen before, but where they'd Cobweb Skipper Nature Conservancy to been seeded repeatedly.

11 Weeds (while present, as throughout the 'EL SEGUNDO' SQUARE-SPOTTED BLUE, park) have not taken over the opened areas. CALIFORNIA No doubt the gradual canopy reduction contributed to this, but the droughty, sterile An unlikely haven for an endangered butterfly soil is also relatively inhospitable to most would be the Los Angeles International weeds. After canopy removal, however, jack Airport (abbreviated LAX). But this is the last pine seedlings can pop up in large numbers, so stronghold for the federally endangered 'El it has been necessary to follow up with Segundo' Square-spotted Blue (according to seedling removal for several years after initial the naming system of the NABA checklist, a clearing, until the supply of pine seeds in the subspecies is indicated with single quotes; this soil is exhausted. This low-intensity but long- butterfly is also known as the El Segundo term management approach has not just "held Blue). This subspecies is distinct, but its the line" against increasing canopy, but has species-level association is less clear. It is actually "turned back the clock" before the part of the Square-spotted Blue species late 1980s in overall canopy cover. complex, which may actually comprise more But what about the skippers? Most likely, than one species, such as the 'Bernardino' Leonard's Skippers were always in the project Square-spotted Blue, which some experts area, but have increased since the restoration consider a distinct species that the 'El began. Not until 1996 was Dusted Skipper Segundo' belongs to. recorded in the restored area. Since then, it's There's no confusion about the most been found in the project area each year. important resource the 'El Segundo' Square- Cobweb Skipper, the most localized of these spotted Blue requires to exist. Like all species, was absent in the project area for populations in the Square-spotted Blue many years, but at least it persisted along a complex, the lives of the 'El Segundo' revolve nearby trail. Finally in 2002, and again in utterly around the flowerheads of buckwheats 2003, it was recorded in the project area. (Eriogonum), native wildflowers of the arid This project couldn't have happened Southwest. But in the case of the 'El Segundo' without the happy coincidence of a known Square-spotted Blue, the only buckwheat need with a suitable source of volunteer flowers that will do are those of the coastal manpower and coordination. But given that, buckwheat (Eriogonum parvifolium). It is on this project demonstrates that a little bit of these flowers that 'El Segundo' Square-spotted work appropriately targeted and consistently Blues feed as caterpillars, mate and often applied year after consecutive year can nectar as adults, and lay their eggs. It is in the produce successful habitat restoration for the sand underneath these buckwheats that the vegetation that also benefits local butterfly pupas rest from late August, when the populations, yet is very economical in time buckwheats have wilted, until mid-June of the and money. next year, when the butterflies emerge at the For more information: "Habitat onset of coastal buckwheat flowering. Restoration for Butterflies at Mirror Lake As is often the case, the butterfly is more State Park, Wisconsin" by Ann Swengel, limited in habitat than its caterpillar food pages 30-31, 33 in News of Lepidopterists' plant. The 'El Segundo' Square-spotted Blue Society volume 12, number 1, Spring 2000. has historically been restricted to the El To visit: Mirror Lake State, E10320 Fern Segundo sand dunes, which covered 3200 Dell Road, Baraboo, WI 53913. (608) 254- acres in non-continuous patches along a small 2333. strip of the southern California coast between

12 Santa Monica and Palos Verdes, extending made it possible for these other butterfly and from Ocean Park in the north to Malaga Cove moth species to increase in the El Segundo to the south. The dunes occur between the dunes. Even without increasing the abun- Pacific Ocean to the west and what used to be dance of coastal buckwheat, researchers Los Angeles coastal prairie, and now is dense discovered that 'El Segundo' Square-spotted urbanization, surrounding it in all other Blues would increase in abundance when directions. Coastal buckwheat is a key California buckwheat was reduced, as this indicator species of undisturbed coastal sand decreased the abundance of competing dunes habitat, where the sand is continuously butterfly and moth species using coastal moving and the microclimate is extremely buckwheat. This is fortunate, as coastal arid. Since this is inhospitable to farming, the buckwheat has, for unknown reasons, been habitat remained relatively undisturbed until very unlikely to re-establish itself naturally on the middle of the 20th century, when urban degraded dunes. development gobbled up almost all the dunes. For that reason, habitat rehabilitation at Some of this development was reversed in the LAX included not just removal of the plants 1970s, when a referendum permitted non-native to the dunes, but also active efforts condemnation and removal of 850 homes, to re-establish the native flora in degraded leaving open space of degraded vegetation in areas. Long-term population monitoring of what is now part of LAX. Because of the the 'El Segundo' Square-spotted Blue also federal listing of the 'El Segundo' as occurred, to measure how successful the endangered in 1974, and because of the habitat restoration was at helping the butterfly. political activism of environmentalists, 198 of 'El Segundo' abundance has increased with these acres in the airport were set aside as a reduction of California buckwheat and preserve in 1991. LAX now harbors the increase in coastal buckwheat. The survey largest of the three extant populations of 'El results also found fluctuations in abundance Segundo' Square-spotted Blues. not tied directly to the abundance of the two Roadway re-alignment in 1975 led to re- buckwheat species. Teasing out what parts of vegetation with a wildflower seed mix that these changes in abundance relate to included California, or common, buckwheat buckwheat abundance, the vagaries of climatic (Eriogonum fasciculatum). This buckwheat, variation, and other factors as yet unidentified, non-native to the El Segundo dunes but the remains a challenge. only plant to persist from this well-intentioned Because the 'El Segundo' Square-spotted but flawed planting, added a new threat to the Blue occupies so few sites that are surrounded 'El Segundo' Square-spotted Blue. The by an environmentally degraded landscape, presence of California buckwheat allowed active restoration and ongoing management is increases in populations of competing necessary for the long-term into the future, in butterfly and moth species that also feed on order for the dune ecosystem required by the buckwheat flowers. These other species can 'El Segundo' to persist. Revegetation efforts feed on a variety of buckwheat species. But have been aimed at re-establishing the variety they also have more than one generation a of plants native to this habitat, which helps not year, and so cannot live in places that only just the 'El Segundo' Square-spotted Blue but support coastal buckwheat, with its restricted also a variety of other invertebrates, including summer flowering season. However, with the moths, weevils, a cricket, and a spider all addition of California buckwheat, the season endemic to the El Segundo dunes. As in other of flowering by any buckwheat increased, and cases, an ongoing challenge is maintaining a

13 consistent program over the very long-term. Bureaucratic time frames view a few years as long-term, but for conservation of very fragile populations of localized butterflies, the time frame for habitat management and butterfly monitoring must encompass decades. For more information: This article is adapted and excerpted from: Mattoni, Rudolf H. T. 1992. The endangered El Segundo Blue butterfly. Journal of Research on the 29: 277-304. Mattoni, Rudi, Travis Longcore, and Vojtech Novotny. 2000. monitoring for fine-scale habitat analysis: a case study of the El Segundo Sand Dunes. Environmental Management 25: 445-452. Mattoni, Rudi, Travis Longcore, Cor Zonneveld, and Vojtech Novotny. 2001. Analysis of transect counts to monitor population size in endangered . Journal of Conservation 5: 197- 206. Pratt, Gordon F. 1987. Competition as a controlling factor of Euphilotes battoides allyni larval abundance (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae). Atala 15:1-9.

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