"dire straits faced by most of our butterfly fauna"

Stan Gorodenski stan_gorodenski at asualumni.org
Wed May 2 22:54:44 EDT 2007



Grkovich, Alex wrote:

> 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...


As a kid around the late 1950's I chased a zebra swallowtail down a road 
but never got it. This was Erie, Pennsylvania, maybe about the same 
latituded as Michigan?
Stan

>  
> 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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