Conservationists Sue to Protect Sand Mountain blue butterfly in Nevada

Stan Gorodenski stan_gorodenski at asualumni.org
Sat Jan 7 11:44:01 EST 2006



Neil Jones wrote:

>On Fri, 2006-01-06 at 21:35, Mike Leski wrote:
>  
>
>>Yea, this is a sticky one.  Last year I was in Reno, and trying to
>>identify leps that I might pursue come the summer season.  This blue
>>got my attention.  I researched the internet, be that as it may, and
>>found that the good ol' boys had identified a number of sites where
>>they thought the lep could fly, based on host plant records.  I had
>>planned to visit one or two, but fortunately spent the summer in far
>>better lep territory.
>> 
>>Now, I have no idea who is right, concerning the need to restrict this
>>spot from 4-wheelers.  However, the part I didn't like from the story
>>Mike forwarded was the 'found nowhere else' comment about the host. 
>>Is this true?  I kind of doubt it.  Is it true of the butterfly???
>> 
>>Mike
>>    
>>
>
>It very likely is true. The buckwheat plants which this group of blue
>butterflies utilise as foodplants are very variable and have evolved
>into many many different forms. It would seem that many of these forms
>have their own unique butterfly that is specialised to feed on them. One
>example I am very familiar with is the El Segundo Blue which utilises a
>very localised buckwheat which only grows in and around the Los Angeles
>airport (The largest of the only 3 colonies occurs in the airport
>grounds.) This creature is dependent on its buckwheat also as a nectar
>source, and the buckwheat used by its nearest relative just a few miles
>away is poisonous to its larvae. The remnant area of habitat here is
>also known as a source for other endemics.
>One of the features of certain kinds of habitats is that local
>conditions can lead to hotspots of endemism. Where a particular area
>supports insects and plants which are found nowhere else on earth.
>
>
>It would seem that this is also the case with the Sand Mountain area.
>There no fewer than 16 endemics recorded from the locality.
>
>
>Of course it is always possible that the blue occurs elsewhere, although
>given the ecology and taxonomy of the group it is unlikely. However,
>this is what the lawsuit is all about. A group of conservation bodies
>petitioned for the species to be listed.
>The government then should have investigated the matter, they could then
>then have surveyed and located other populations.
>They didn't do this, as they law says they should. The result is that a
>coalition of organisations is taking them to court to force them to obey
>the law.
>  
>

Interesting. I guess this is the other side to the other side of the 
story Paul found in his search of off highway vehicle web sites.
Stan

>At the end of this process we should know whether it is reasonable to
>restrict Off Road Vehicles from the area, but without doing the research
>which these good citizens groups are trying to force the government to
>do we will not know.
>
>I hope that all the decent lepidopterists on this list will agree with
>me that we don't want to see one of these lovely creatures driven into
>extinction by the needless destruction of their habitat.
>
>
>Neil Jones
>Neil at nwjones.demon.co.uk http://www.butterflyguy.com/
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