PARENT SESSION
Oral Session # 47: Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Species II: Mammals, Birds, Fish, and Insects.
Presiding: KE Sukkestad
Wednesday, August 6. 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, SITCC Meeting Room 202.
Habitat management recommendations for the endangered Karner blue butterfly based on its oviposition preferences.
Benjamins, Maija*,1, Leopold, Donald2, 1 SUNY- College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY2 SUNY-College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY
ABSTRACT- Oviposition preferences of the Karner blue butterfly, Lycaeides melissa samuelis Nabokov (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), were studied in the pine barrens of eastern New York. L. m. samuelis oviposite on blue lupine, Lupinus perennis, the obligate food source of the larvae. In the eastern New York pine barrens, L. perennis is often interspersed with Quercus ilicifolia and Pinus rigida. Most conservation management techniques have focused on restoring the eastern NY pine barrens to an early successional stage 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? Does area of the L. perennis play a role in this selection? Larvae and ovipositing L. m. samuelis were exposed to various sized L. perennis in full sun and two levels of shade (30% and 50%). Results for two growing seasons show that ovipositing females lay eggs more often on L. perennis in moderate shade, independent of host plant density and proximity to the center of the patch. Plant area and stem length also are significant factors in selection of a host plant, with small and moderate sized L. perennis having the highest number of eggs and larva. Plant characteristics selected as most favorable oviposition sites were used with a L. perennis population data set collected in response to various management techniques on 25 Right-of-ways in eastern NY. Habitat management methods for this study that produce similar sized L. perennis and maintain habitat heterogeneity inherent to the natural pine barrens ecosystem will be discussed.
Key words: oviposition, Lepidoptera, Lycaeides melissa samuelis, habitat heterogeneity