PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #3: Conservation Ecology: Threatened and Endangered Species.
Presiding: J. Lawler
Monday, August 5. 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM. Graham Meeting Room, TCC.
Effects of habitat heterogeneity on oviposition preferences of the endangered Karner blue butterfly.
Benjamins, Maija*,1, Leopold, Donald1, 1 SUNY-College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY
ABSTRACT- Oviposition preference of the Karner blue butterfly, Lycaeides melissa samuelis Nabokov (Lepidoptera:Lycaenidae), was studied in the pine barrens of eastern New York. L. m. samuelis oviposite on wild lupine, Lupinus perennis, the obligate food source of the larvae. In the mosaic of the eastern New York pine barrens, L. perennis is often interspersed with Quercus ilicifolia and Pinus rigida. Most current conservation management techniques have focused on restoring the eastern NY pine barrens to a primary successional ecosystem by eliminating the woody plant cover. It has been demonstrated elsewhere that larval growth of L. m. samuelis was significantly faster on L. perennis grown in moderate shade than in full sun. By reaching pupation more quickly, larvae avoid senescing L. perennis during the second brood, as well as, decreased rates of predation and parasitism. Do ovipositing L. m. samuelis select for L. perennis in moderate shade to increase the survival of their offspring? Larvae and ovipositing L. m. samuelis were exposed to L. perennis in full sun and various levels of shade (30% and 50%). Results show that both larvae and ovipositing females reside more often on L. perennis in moderate shade, independent of host plant density and proximity to the center of the patch. Although L. perennis grows more vigorously in full sun, this research demonstrates the need to maintain habitat heterogeneity inherent to the natural pine barrens ecosystem to maintain a sustainable population of the endangered L. m. samuelis.
KEY WORDS: Lycaeides melissa samuelis, oviposition, habitat heterogeniety, Lepidoptera