Researchers hunting for one of the world’s rarest butterflies announced that they captured a single female in the mosquito-filled forest of Elliott Key.
That may not sound like much but the discovery last week gives scientists a shot at producing lab-bred Schaus swallowtails to boost a population that experts fear is fast fluttering toward extinction.
“It at
least gives us some hope,’’ said Jaret Daniels, a University of Florida
butterfly expert leading a recovery effort that includes state and federal
wildlife agencies and Biscayne National Park.
The
current 2013 article documents those actions that have been ongoing to deter
(perhaps delay) what I feared in a June 13, 2012, South Dade Updates post: Butterfly on the brink. Another Florida species to go
extinct in our lifetime? Interested readers will learn that: Decades
ago, hundreds of Schaus swallowtails — hand-sized butterflies with brown-black
wings accented by swirls of yellow – would typically be in the area called
Petrel Point at this time of year, slowly flitting along trail edges and around
the torchwood and wild lime trees that are prime “host plants” where they lay
their eggs.
Last
year, 35 were spotted on Elliott, another six in Key Largo. This year, they’re
even fewer and very far between – five sightings overall since May 11, only
three confirmed.
Because
butterfly pupae can survive dormant for several years, biologists can mount
capture efforts again if they strike out in this waning flight season. But without
some boost from captive breeding, the Schaus could be fast slipping toward
extinction.
Additional
information from Cornell University, Insect Conservation Biology on the Papilio aristodemusponceanus, Shaus Swallowtail Butterfly
This is a
somewhat good (but not great) news update to my prior post (and prior Miami
Herald article) of June 28, 2012 : State declares Miami blue butterfly endangered.
Florida Wildlife managers declared the Miami blue butterfly an endangered
species back in June, 2012, noting that the tiny Miami blue butterfly, which
once ranged from the Florida Keys to Daytona Beach, has been reduced to a few
hundred survivors on islands off Key West. Its decline has been blamed on an
array of threats, including pesticide spraying, development in its coastal
habitat and exotic iguanas eating the plants it needs to reproduce.
It is not difficult to incorporate native species in creating or maintaining your backyard oasis.
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