Checkerspot Butterfly Endangered?
Rare Butterfly Relies on Just Two Thousand Acres of Threatened Habit
USFWS may be forced to determine whether Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot Butterfly should be listed as endangered as agricultural pesticide use is proposed for the area.
High in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico, near the town of Cloudcroft, two thousand acres of alpine meadow are the only known habitat of the Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas anicia cloudcrofti). But human development, off-road vehicles, livestock grazing, overzealous collectors, and now agricultural pesticide use, may spell extinction for this tiny butterfly.
The Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians are suing the US Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure that the Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot butterfly is considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act. The town of Cloudcroft, close to the critical butterfly habitat, proposed spraying agricultural pesticides to deal with an invasion of looper caterpillars, also known as inchworms.
Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot Habitat
Since the species was identified in the 1980s, it has not been found anywhere except within the two thousand acres where it was originally studied. Needing sunlight and sufficient air temperature for survival, it is unable to travel though thickly wooded areas to reach new habitat. It also tends not to fly over objects greater than 2 meters high. This means that open meadows or low shrubs must exist along the path between separate suitable habitats in order for the checkerspots to colonize new areas.
Certain plants are also necessary for the species to survive. New Mexico penstemon (Penstemon neomexicanus) and valerian (Valeriana edulis) are needed by the larvae and orange sneezeweed (Helenium hoopesii) is the key adult nectar food.
Threats to the Checkerspot Butterfly in New Mexico
- Habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation - undisturbed meadows and open corridors between them are becoming increasingly rare in the area. Human activities in the meadows changes plant population structure and fire suppression activities increase forest density. Expansion of the town of Cloudcroft (whose population has doubled since 1960) and increases in Off Road Vehicle use have all contributed to reducing viable habitat for the species.
- Livestock grazing and introduced non-native vegetation add to habitat destruction and degradation. Livestock trample critical food plants and larvae, while non-native vegetation pushes out some of those species critical for Sacramento Mountains checkerspot survival. Butterfly enthusiasts, eager to add rare species to their collections, often disregard their role in contributing to the decline of isolated species.
- But today the biggest concern for the species is insect control using agricultural pesticides, which are toxic to the butterfly. Efforts to eradicate inchworms with agricultural pesticides would result in losses of checkerspot butterfly caterpillars as well.
And this is what the conservation organizations are using to force the US Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider the Saramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly for listing as an endangered species. Listing would mean that permission to use agricultural pesticides would be under the supervision of US FWS, if allowed at all.
The fact that the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly has already been under Endangered Species Act review once may make the process quicker. Much of the information needed to make a determination has already been gathered. And, while the threats were deemed to be decreasing in 2001, recent events would indicate that they are on the increase again.
