Lycaeides melissa samuelis

[Mark Walker]

O.K., I've got some questions about the Karner Blue.  Being located right in
between two of the butterfly's last remaining bastions, I've spent a lot of
time thinking about the dilemma of this beautiful little subspecies.  I'm
not that familiar with the different ssp. of Lupine, but I know the plants
when I see them and I do see them frequenty up here in northern New England.
So why is it that the butterfly can't be found anywhere in Vermont?

Is the primary foodplant (Lupine perennis) somehow unique and only found in
pockets of open oak woodland, or would I be likely to find it along the road
in Maine (where the Lupine can be magnificent)?

I recently read that the isolated populations in and around Concord, N.H.
are facing additional loss of habitat due to planned development on these
tracks.  This is most frustrating, and I wonder who, if anyone, is managing
or monitoring these populations.  Anyone out there?

Why can't we start sowing our seeds and attempt to build some sort of
corridor for this local species?  It sure seems within the realm of
possibility that a reserve be started with all of the available land there
is up here.  I've thought about it myself more than once, but I'm a bit
hesitant to sneak around trying to collect larvae.

Who can I talk to?  Am I dreaming again?


Mark Walker
BFGoodrich Aerospace AIS
100 Panton Rd.
Vergennes, VT 05491
mwalker at aisvt.bfg.com
(802) 877-4770

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"If I can't sell it,
      I'll sit on it."
Ruth Brown
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