Seldom Seen Corners CA

This site captures roadside habitat and surrounding second-growth deciduous forest that supports populations of Indian ( sassacus ) and long dash butterfly ( mystic ), invertebrate of conservation concern in Pennsylvania.

Butterflies undergo four stages in their life cycle: egg, caterpillar, pupa, and adult. Once an adult female has mated, she seeks out the species of host plant appropriate for her species on which to lay her fertilized eggs. Most species lay their eggs on a plant that the newly hatched caterpillar will eat. When an egg hatches, a small caterpillar emerges and spends all its time eating and growing. As a caterpillar grows, it sheds its exoskeleton – usually three or four times – over

Indian skipper butterfly. Photo: Will Cook the course of two to three weeks. During the caterpillar stage, the is highly vulnerable to predation by wasps and birds, parasitization by wasps or flies, or infection by fungal or viral pathogens; most caterpillars do not survive to the next stage of development. Once a caterpillar has reached full size, it attaches itself to a support and encases itself in a hard outer shell (chrysalis), and becomes a pupa. While in the pupa stage, the butterfly transforms into an adult. When the adult inside the chrysalis is fully formed, the chrysalis splits and the adult butterfly emerges (Glassberg 1999).

Habitat for Indian skipper is old fields, pastures, and clearings. The caterpillars live in silken tubes at the base of grass clumps and leave them to feed. The older caterpillars overwinter and in the spring pupate in a loose cocoon. Various grasses, including little bluestem ( scoparius ), panic grass ( sp.), and red fescue ( Festuca rubra ) serve as caterpillar host plants. The adults nectar from flowers, including blackberry (Rubus sp.), henbit ( Lamium amplexicaule ), lithospermum ( Lithospermum spp.), phlox ( Phlox spp.), and viper's bugloss ( Echium vulgare ), all of which are plants typically found in disturbed roadside habitat (Opler et al. 2006)

Long dash inhabits open, moist areas including meadows, marshes, streamsides, and wood edges. Females deposit eggs singly on or near bluegrasses ( Poa spp.), host plants for the caterpillars. The caterpillars feed on leaves and live in shelters of tied leaves. Adult long dash nectar on flowers including common milkweed ( Asclepias syriaca ), selfheal ( Prunella vulgaris ), mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia ), and tick trefoil ( Desmodium spp.). Male long dash nectaring on a Threats and Stresses Geranium . Photo: Will Cook These species face no apparent threats within this site.

Conservation Recommendations This site lies partially in National Forest lands and partially in private forestlands. Any road maintenance conducted within this Conservation Area should take into account that the roadside itself is functioning as habitat for state-rare lepidopterans. Herbicide applications should not be applied along roadsides that support the host plants discussed above.