"dire straits faced by most of our butterfly fauna"

Wed May 2 16:22:05 EDT 2007

Yeah, but again, Roger, at least in one case (and probably more) you are
speaking of (a) species that has never been anything but rare or
uncommon there, and presenting it/them as a species "...in
decline"...There are examples of species that I am sure can no longer be
found in most parts of Greater Boston, but I'm not going to write now
and claim that these butterflies are "in trouble"...

I lived in rural southwestern Onytario in the early 60's, and I never
saw a Zebra Swallowtail until I moved to North Carolina...then I saw
tons of them...

Alex

________________________________

From: Roger Kuhlman [mailto:rkuhlman at hotmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 4:20 PM
To: Grkovich, Alex; leps-l at lists.yale.edu
Subject: RE: "dire straits faced by most of our butterfly fauna"

Alex,

My comments related to endangerment and scarcity of certain butterflies
refer specifically to the Southeast Michigan counties of Monroe, Wayne,
Lenawee, and Washtenaw. I am not making any statements about the status
of these butterflies in the rest of Michigan. Each of the butterflies I
noted is either extinct, threatened with extinction, or severely
declining in the local region. There is no exageration or excessive hype
here. Oh how I wish there was and each of these species was doing well
or at least ok.

Respectfully,

Roger Kuhlman
Ann Arbor, Michigan

________________________________

	Subject: RE: "dire straits faced by most of our butterfly fauna"
	Date: Wed, 2 May 2007 14:02:21 -0400
	From: agrkovich at tmpeng.com
	To: rkuhlman at hotmail.com; leps-l at lists.yale.edu

	Roger,

	First of all, you're talking about the specific parts of SE
Michigan that have been swallowed up by suburban Detroit. This is NOT at
all happening across the State. Also:

	Persius Duskywing is probably indigenous to the west; it is
uncommon to rare everywhere in the East, regardless of development or
not... Bog Copper is not in any kind of trouble, is common in the right
habitat everywhere. Zebra Swallowtail has never been common, and has
always been sporadic with colonies coming and going, in southeastern
Michigan or in adjacent Ontario - it is often extremely common in its
typical southern locales. Swamp Metalmark is a problem - yes. Brown
Elfin? I have to avoid stepping all over them over here; you gotta be
kidding...Ditto for Harris Checkerspot and Indian Skipper. Pipevine
Swallowtail is not at all in trouble (Bob Kriegel, pers. com.).
Columbine Duskywing has for a long time been rare. Compton
Tortoiseshell: You gotta be kidding again; just go to Scott Bog in N NH,
plus this one is notorious for "periodicity". Two Spotted Skipper is
common in its right habitat and is easily overlooked.

	I guess my point is that everyone knows that man's selfish and
greedy activities are a problem to those of us who care for the
Creation. But let's not get into excessive hype. 

	Alex 

________________________________

	From: Roger Kuhlman [mailto:rkuhlman at hotmail.com] 
	Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 12:21 PM
	To: Grkovich, Alex; Leps List
	Subject: RE: "dire straits faced by most of our butterfly fauna"

	Some of the other butterfly species that have probably gone
extinct the last 35 years in southeast Michigan (Lenawee, Wayne,
Washtenaw, and Monroe counties) are Persius Duskywing, Mottled
Duskywing, Bog Copper and Indian Skipper. Several others including Zebra
Swallowtail, Swamp Metalmark, Dusted Skipper, Brown Elfin, Harris'
Checkerspot, Pipevine Swallowtail, Columbine Duskywing, Compton's
Tortoise Shell, and Two-spotted Skipper are either on the verge of
extinction or only vagrants today. The Mitchell's Satyr population in
the area is very small and easily could be snuffed out.

	Most of this damage can be directly linked to habitat loss or
fragmentation and the strict control of natural disturbance forces like
fires and flooding. The introduction and spread of a number of invasive
non-native plants have played significant supporting roles in the harm
that has been done. The worst hit habitats are various prairie-type
habitats and the now, uncommon wetland habitats like fens and bogs. The
negative changes in these productive habitats are human induced. With
fewer people living in our area and less development all these habitats
would be in much better shape than they are today.

	Roger Kuhlman
	Ann Arbor, Michigan

	> No one is goint to argue that 'overdevelopment' has been going
on at an
	> alarming rate everywhere in the U.S., including here in
eastern
	> Massachusetts (in our neighborhood for example). Condominium
	> construction is going on at a 'fever pace'...However, I
understand that
	> the condo market is also cooling (thanksfully)...Habitat
destruction is
	> a concern...for sure...
	> 
	> However, Roger, I wanted to ask: What are the 5 to 10
butterfly species
	> in southeast Michigan that are either extinct or in trouble?
Regal
	> Fritillary decline is well-known, although this may have most
to do with
	> the decline of a Prairie-species in regions in which
'prairies' are
	> being overgrown by forest succcessions; and the Regal has
NEVER been
	> common either in Ontario OR Michigan...Lupine feeders (Karner
Blue,
	> Frosted Elfin ecotype) have been similarly declining over the
past few
	> decades - and this is quite apparently connected also with
secondary
	> succession; however the irus-feeding Frosted Elfin ecotype is
holding
	> its own (at least here in the northeast)...As far as I know,
(at least)
	> most species in Michigan and Ontario are in healthy shape
overall...
	> 
	> Conservationists should be most concerned about, however,
stopping these
	> wars that are going on all over the globe. That's the most
destructive
	> aspect to man's 'activities' on the planet. Much more than
'habitat' is
	> lost.
	> 
	> Alex
	> 
	> -----Original Message-----
	> From: owner-leps-l at lists.yale.edu
[mailto:owner-leps-l at lists.yale.edu]
	> On Behalf Of Paul Cherubini
	> Sent: Monday, April 30, 2007 5:37 PM
	> To: leps-l at lists.yale.edu
	> Subject: Re: 'dire straits faced by most of our butterfly
fauna'
	> 
	> Roger Kuhlman wrote:
	> 
	> > I too found this article excellent and glad it was posted.
We here in 
	> > southeast Michigan have not been having droughts but we have
a huge 
	> > problem with habitat destruction and isolated patches of
habitat. I 
	> > wish we had detailed, rigourous observations going back 35
years here.
	> > I am sure they would also show a serious decline in
butterfly 
	> > populations.
	> 
	> Roger, if the habitat destruction has been 'huge' then you
could
	> document it via the historical aerial photos that are
available in your
	> larger local university libraries (map depts. of the
libraries) and
	> compare them with recent Google Earth photos. 
	> 
	> Google Earth is a cool new tool that can be used to show what
is really
	> going on with butterfly habitats. For example, on the south
island of
	> New Zealand a couple entomologists have written a phamplet
about the
	> monarch overwintering sites in the city of Chirstchurch. In
the phamplet
	> they say the monarch numbers seem to be increasing:
	>
http://www.ccc.govt.nz/parks/theenvironment/MonarchButterflies.pdf
	> 
	> Here's the general location of the city of Christchurch, New
Zealand:
	> http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k75/4af/ccisland.jpg
	> And here's an aerial view of the general location of the three
monarch
	> overwintering sites in Christchurch :
	> http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k75/4af/ccover.jpg
	> 
	> Here is what the phamplet says about the St. James Park
overwintering
	> site in Christchurch:
	> http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k75/4af/stjam.jpg
	> And here is an actual Google Earth photo of the site:
	> http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k75/4af/ccstj.jpg
	> 
	> Here is what the phamplet says about the Abberley Park
overwintering
	> site in Christchurch:
	> http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k75/4af/abb.jpg
	> And here is an actual Google Earth photo of the site:
	> http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k75/4af/ccaber.jpg
	> 
	> Here is what the phamplet says about the Ruru Lawn Cemetery
	> overwintering site in Christchurch:
	> http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k75/4af/ruru.jpg
	> And here is an actual Google Earth photo of the site:
	> http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k75/4af/ccruru.jpg
	> 
	> Thus Google Earth provides indisputable physical evidence that
monarch
	> butterflies in New Zealand are choosing and using man made
overwintering
	> habitats in an extremely urbanized setting even though much
more natural
	> and rural habitats are available nearby. 
	> 
	> Paul Cherubini
	> El Dorado, Calif.
	> 
	> 
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