Fender's blue butterfly

Fender's blue butterfly (Icaricia icarioides fenderi[1]) is an endangered subspecies of Boisduval's blue (Icaricia icarioides) endemic to the Willamette Valley of northwestern Oregon, United States.[2] The potential range of the butterfly extends from south and west of Portland, OR to south of Eugene, OR. The butterfly is host-specific on the Kincaid's lupine, which it relies on for reproduction and growth.

Fender's blue butterfly
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Riodinidae
Genus: Icaricia
Species:
I. icarioides
Subspecies:
I. i. fenderi
Trinomial name
Icaricia icarioides fenderi
(Macy, 1931)
Synonyms
  • Plebejus icarioides fenderi

History

The subspecies was first documented in the 1920s and was described to science in 1931 by biologist Ralph Macy, who named it for his friend, Kenneth Fender, an entomologist and mail carrier. The subspecies was not seen after the 1930s and was presumed extinct. Small populations were rediscovered in 1989. Its eponym, Fender, had died nine years earlier.[3]

Ecology
A Fender's blue butterfly on its host plant, the Kincaid's lupine.

Host plant

Fender's blue butterfly is host-specific on Kincaid's lupine (Lupinus sulphureus kincaidii), a rare subspecies of the common sulphur lupine. The adult deposits its eggs on the plant in spring. After emerging and feeding, the larva winters in the root system. In spring it continues to feed before undergoing metamorphosis. As an adult it lives for no more than three weeks, during which time it mates and the female seeks Kincaid's lupines on which to oviposit.[4]

As Fender's blue prefer to feed on the lupine's flowers, reduction in lupine availability limits the butterfly's food sources and distribution.[5] Females in particular prefer native nectar, with a study by Thomas and Schultz finding only 20% of nectar was obtained from nonnative plants.[6]

Mutualism

Fender's blue butterfly has been observed to participate in facultative mutualism with several species of ant, including Prenolepis imparis and Aphaenogaster occidentalis. Butterfly larvae that received attendance from ants were observed to have higher survival rates compared to those that did not.[7]

Habitat destruction

Fender's blue butterfly is endemic to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, where its habitat is fragmented into 13 sections. Observation of butterfly dispersion and flight patterns revealed that butterflies tend to prefer prairie patches with Kincaid's lupine. As fragmentation increases the distance between lupine patches, the butterflies face habitat loss due to the lack of ability to fly from one patch to another.[8] The increasing presence of anthropogenic structures, agriculture, and urbanization threaten habitat fragmentation, as roads can prevent movement and introduce mortality risk from vehicles.[9]

Conservation

In January 2000, Fender's blue butterfly was added to the Endangered Species List by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.[4] The largest known populations now exist in the Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge. A 2014 study reintroduced this subspecies to William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge.[10]

Fender's blue butterfly is a protected species in The Nature Conservancy's Willow Creek Preserve in Eugene, which extends into the Willamette Valley.[11] Controlled burning of prairie habitats is practiced in the preserve to maximize butterfly population growth.[12]

References
  1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0". explorer.natureserve.org. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  2. "OFWO - Fender's blue butterfly". www.fws.gov. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  3. "Endangered Butterfly Needs Proper Habitat, Special Nectar". The UCSB Current. 9 June 2000. Retrieved 2021-05-16.
  4. "OFWO - Fender's blue butterfly". www.fws.gov. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  5. Schultz, Cheryl B.; Dlugosch, Katrina M. (May 1999). "Nectar and hostplant scarcity limit populations of an endangered Oregon butterfly". Oecologia. 119 (2): 231–238. Bibcode:1999Oecol.119..231S. doi:10.1007/s004420050781. ISSN 1432-1939. PMID 28307973. S2CID 2364623.
  6. Thomas, Rhiannon C.; Schultz, Cheryl B. (2016). "Resource selection in an endangered butterfly: Females select native nectar species". The Journal of Wildlife Management. 80 (1): 171–180. doi:10.1002/jwmg.987. ISSN 1937-2817.
  7. Thomas, Cameron C.; Tillberg, Chadwick V.; Schultz, Cheryl B. (2020-04-01). "Facultative mutualism increases survival of an endangered ant-tended butterfly". Journal of Insect Conservation. 24 (2): 385–395. doi:10.1007/s10841-020-00218-2. ISSN 1572-9753. S2CID 210954026.
  8. Schultz, Cheryl B. (1998). "Dispersal Behavior and Its Implications for Reserve Design in a Rare Oregon Butterfly". Conservation Biology. 12 (2): 284–292. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96266.x. ISSN 1523-1739. S2CID 53482304.
  9. Severns, Paul (2008). "Road crossing behavior of an endangered grassland butterfly, Icaricia icarioides fenderi Macy (Lycaenidae), between a subdivided population" (PDF). Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society. 62 (1): 55–58.
  10. Bringing back a rare butterfly at Finley. Corvallis Gazette-Times May 23, 2014.
  11. "Fender's Blue Butterfly and Kincaid's Lupine: A Love Story". The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  12. Schultz, Cheryl B.; Crone, Elizabeth E. (1998). "Burning Prairie to Restore Butterfly Habitat: A Modeling Approach to Management Tradeoffs for the Fender's Blue". Restoration Ecology. 6 (3): 244–252. doi:10.1046/j.1526-100X.1998.00637.x. ISSN 1526-100X. S2CID 43414200.
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