Lepidoptera Research and Conservation Awards

The Xerces Society is now accepting applications for two $3,750 awards for research into Lepidoptera conservation. The submission deadline is December 19, 2008. View application instructions.

Joan Mosenthal DeWind was a pioneering member of the Xerces Society. A psychiatric social worker by profession, she was also an avid butterfly gardener and an accomplished amateur lepidopterist. Her contributions of time, organizational expertise, and financial support were essential to the growth and success of the Xerces Society over the past 25 years. Joan also had a keen interest in young people, supporting what became the Young Entomologists’ Society. In Joan’s memory, Bill DeWind established this student research endowment fund.

2008 award recipients

Linking Local Behavior and Range-Wide Movement to Conserve a Rare Butterfly in an Urbanized Landscape
Allison K. Leidner, PhD candidate - Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University

Habitat loss and fragmentation by urban development pose severe threats to species viability. This research focuses on a newly identified Atrytonopsis species which uses heavily fragmented sand dune habitat along a 30-mile stretch of North Carolina’s barrier islands. Combining local behavioral studies with range-wide analyses of population structure this study will determine the effects of habitat fragmentation and urbanization on the movement of Atrytonopsis. Ultimately, this information can identify features in the landscape that promote movement, and be used to generate conservation strategies that will help maintain the long-term persistence of Atrytonopsis.

Climate Change as a Threat to Geometrid Moths Along an Altitudinal Gradient In the North Eastern Andes of Ecuador
Genoveva R. Castañeda, PhD candidate - Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University

Climate change is predicted to change species’ distributions, potentially decoupling interactions among species, with related consequences for entire communities. Ecological models and empirical data predict that these impacts will be more severe for montane species, as these species have upper limits to potential range expansion in response to warmer temperatures. This study will experimentally extend the altitudinal range of ants, the dominant predators of Eios geometrid caterpillars in the Andean mountains of Ecuador, in order to investigate the impacts that increases in global temperatures will have on ant-plant mutualisms and distributions of Lepidoptera.

Rising Treeline and Shifting Host-Plan Dynamics: Implications for a Monophagous Alpine Butterfly
Kurt Illerbrun, Graduate Student - Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta

Climate mediated treeline rise reduces the size and contiguity of alpine meadows worldwide, altering the ecology of alpine flora and fauna. On Jumpingpound Ridge in Alberta, Canada, treeline may be a major determinant of distribution and abundance for Sedum lanceolatum, host plant of the Apollo butterfly Parnassius smintheus, whose larvae are monophagous. This research will examine the effects of advancing treeline and herbivory on Sedum distribution and dynamics, and relate these effects to the observed responses in movement and herbivory pattern of Parnassius larvae. Knowledge of fine-scale resource usage by larvae will aid in understanding and predicting butterfly responses to habitat change in similar environments, with direct relevance to endangered lepidoptera.

2007 award recipients

Indirect Effects of an invasive gall wasp on a native butterfly, a possible mechanism for population declines in a threatened butterfly species
Kirsten M. Prior, PhD Graduate Student - Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame

Garry oak ecosystems are hotspots of butterfly and plant diversity in North America. They are under immediate threat, especially at the edge of their range, due to habitat loss and degradation as a direct result of changes in land-use. Population extinctions and declines of a native threatened butterfly species have been observed in locales that are surrounded by an urban matrix, which have outbreaks of a high-impact oak-galling invader. The importance of indirect interactions between these two species mediated by changes in resource quality will be examined to uncover a possible mechanism for population extinctions of this butterfly. As more locales in this region face the threat of urban encroachment, understanding the causes of population extinctions and declines of species in these changing ecosystems becomes increasingly important.

Responses of Butterfly Abundance and Species Richness to Mechanical Treatments of A Sagebrush Ecosystem in the Upper Gunnison Basin of Colorado
Tyler L. Hicks, Undergraduate Student - Department of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Western State College of Colorado

Native sagebrush-steppe ecosystems in North America are rapidly declining due to degradation, fragmentation, and destruction. The lack of natural disturbance and overgrazing has reduced the productivity of these shrublands. Mechanical treatments of sagebrush are being undertaken to increase its productivity. However, the affects of these treatments on sagebrush invertebrate communities is poorly understood. By utilizing butterflies we can monitor how an important component of all ecosystems, invertebrates, responds to these treatments. Here we will determine the effects of two types of mechanical treatment, Dixie harrow and brush mowing, on butterfly abundance and species richness within the sagebrush-steppe ecosystems of the Upper Gunnison Basin.

2006 award recipients

Biodiversity, systematics, and evolution of Schrankia, a cave and rainforest dwelling Hawaiian moth (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)
Matthew J. Medeiros, Graduate Student - Department of Integrative Biology, University of California

Hawaiian Lepidoptera have value as indicator species, as food for endangered birds, and as pollinators. However, many groups are poorly studied. One such group, Schrankia, is interesting because it occurs in two threatened Hawaiian ecosystems: rainforests and caves. Its ecological role and natural history are almost entirely unknown. This study has two main goals: 1) Document the diversity of Schrankia and begin work on a functional key and phylogeny for this group; and 2) explain the distribution and evolution of flightless cave populations of Schrankia, predicting levels of diversity for the Hawaiian cave fauna in general.

Studying the effects of invasive Argentine ants on Lycaenid butterflies
Jessica Shors, PhD Graduate Student, Stanford University

Many North American ants protect North American lycaenid butterfly larvae from parasitism, a mutualism carefully mediated by co-evolution. However, Argentine ants are displacing native ant populations. Because of the geographic isolation between Argentina and North America, it is assumed that Argentine ants cannot protect North American lycaenids. Therefore, Argentine ants have been implicated in the decline of many lycaenid populations, a dire situation because many lycaenid butterfly species are threatened and/or endangered. This study will test this implication with a factorial design, comparing lycaenid larval survivability for ant-exclusion and ant-inclusion treatments in habitat with native ants and habitat with Argentine ants.

Does timing and frequency of mowing affect butterfly assemblages in post-agricultural fields?
Jessica Stager, Graduate Student, Antioch New England Graduate School

Grassland butterflies are declining across the Northeast, and small post-agricultural fields may provide important refuges. These fields may also act as population sinks, however, if field-cutting interferes with key life history periods. This thesis aims to determine whether mowing regimes significantly influence butterfly species richness, abundance, and/or community composition in the post-agricultural fields of the Champlain Basin of Vermont. A non-technical report describing the results and recommendations of the study will be produced and distributed to regional landowners.

2005 award recipients

Using behavior to link restoration to population dynamics for an endangered butterfly
Leslie Rossmell, Washington State University - Vancouver

This study examines effectiveness of a habitat restoration technique which creates nectar-source buffers adjacent to endangered Fender’s blue butterfly habitat. Understanding dispersal behavior is a critical component in designing reserves that serve as sources to bolster the population. Leslie will compare dispersal behavior in buffer areas with and without nectar sources to predict effects on population dynamics. Results of this study will enable better conservation by influencing decisions about reserve design. This behavioral approach links on-the-ground restoration action to population dynamics, a linkage rarely made in scientific literature and one with potential to greatly aid restoration strategies for endangered invertebrates.

Investigating the use of herbicides to control invasive weeds: effects on at-risk butterflies
Cheryl Russell, Washington State University - Vancouver

Northwest prairies support several at-risk butterfly species. These prairies are severely impacted by invasive perennial grasses and few management techniques hold promise in reducing these weeds. Cheryl will investigate the effects of herbicide exposure on at-risk butterflies by using the Puget blue butterfly as a model species. Larvae will be subjected to herbicide exposure followed by assessment of lethal and sublethal effects to make recommendations to land managers on the use of herbicide in these sensitive habitats.

2004 award recipients

Systematics and status of threatened Hawaiian leaf-roller moths in the genus Omiodes (Gueneé) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae)
William Haines, University of Hawai’i at Manoa

The genus Omiodes contains some of the most remarkable and anomalous of Hawaiian insects. Unfortunately, due to the impacts of non-native parasitoids and habitat alteration, over half of the Hawaiian species are thought to be extinct. In this project Mr. Haines will survey for populations of threatened Omiodes species, map these populations, and assess their status by scoring sites based on presence or absence and parasitism rates. He will also construct a phylogeny of the group, assessing the validity of currently described species.

Microlepidoptera of hill prairies
Terry Harrison, Department of Entomology, University of Illinois

Microlepidoptera are of substantial biological importance in prairie communities. Larvae of almost all microlepidoptera are a food source for a diverse and often specialized array of pathogens, parasitoids, and predators. In this project, microlepidoptera will be collected at eight different hill prairie sites in Illinois. Mr. Harrison will compile the first-ever dedicated species inventory of microlepidoptera in a prairie community within the original range of eastern tallgrass prairie. He will then analyze the data to test hypotheses regarding reserve design and management, which are of critical importance in conservation of endangered biotic communities such as prairie remnants.

2003 award recipients

Conservation status of species of Cydia, an endemic Hawaiian moth
Peter T. Oboyski , The University of California, Berkeley

This research will document the distribution, natural histories, and threats to endemic Hawaiian moths (Cydia spp.), as well as identify new species and outline their conservation needs. Hawaiian Cydia are extremely important to ecosystems in native Hawaiian forests. The larvae of these moths feed on seeds of endemic leguminous plants, affecting this plant’s recruitment, and are the most important insect prey to palila, an endangered Hawaiian forest bird. However, much of the biology of this genus remains unknown. The initial goals of this project are to extensively survey for Cydia species, determine host plants and distributions, and document the native and alien parasitic wasps that depredate them.

Gene flow between populations of the endangered maritime ringlet (Coenonympha tullia inornata) and a common subspecies (C. t. nipisiquit), and its impact on endangered species conservation
Makiri Sei, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

The maritime ringlet is a Canadian federally endangered, rare butterfly that inhabits six salt marshes in northern New Brunswick and a few salt marshes in the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. Makiri will study the genetic distinctness and the rate of gene flow between the endangered maritime ringlet and a common, closely related subspecies that may live in nearby grasslands. Hybridization with common species is increasingly being examined as a significant threat to rare species, which are often adapted to unique habitats. The use of genetic analysis at the population level is still infrequent in invertebrate conservation, but may determine if hybridization is occurring. This project will consist of three steps: collection of samples, DNA extraction and genotyping, and genotype analysis to estimate the amount of gene flow between the subspecies.