BURNING FOR BUTTERFLIES

Carrying insect nets, a group of park researchers hike into Miller Woods to search for the endangered Karner blue butterfly. The butterflies are found living near lupine plants that grow under the oak trees... The lupine plants are the only food for their caterpillars. The adults live for only five to fourteen days and spend this time looking for a mate.

To help prevent their extinction, researchers need more information about the lives of these insects. Sweeping their nets above the lupine they capture these one-inch butterflies and carefully mark numbers on their wings before releasing them. The goal of this research is to recapture the butterflies and see how far they have moved.

Lupine has a beautiful blue spike of flowers and a distinctive palm-shaped leaf. In years past, forest fires burned openings in the woodland dune community where the lupines grew under the trees. Now forest fires are put out quickly after they are discovered. The trees grow so large they prevent sunlight from reaching the lupines below. As the lupines stop growing, the butterfly population has declined toward extinction.

Researchers have found only two areas in the park where a population of butterflies live. They wondered if the butterflies from one population could fly over to mate with members of the other population. You will be able to use their research data to help determine the answer to this question.

1. No, 80% of the captured Karner blue butterflies travel less than 300 meters.
2. The two distinct populations of butterflies in the park are the largest in Indiana.
3. The two populations are isolated from each other.
4. The maximum distance a butterfly traveled was 2500 feet. If one population dies out the other population is not close enough for butterflies to naturally repopulate.
5. Three
6. Yes. Butterflies have been captured showing they move from one plot to another.
7. Yes. Creating new habitat helps the Karner blue butterfly, but the park will always be concerned about their survival. The park will need to continue with prescribed burns and monitoring the butterfly’s population. Please emphasize that students helped collect seeds, grow seedlings and replant. Students should know they could make a difference.

COPYCAT PAGE

Make a map showing the locations where researchers captured butterflies by placing the number in the boxes. Some boxes might have more than one number.

Butterfly number 9 – M10, N10, M12, M11 Butterfly number 10 – B3, A2, C5

Butterfly number 12 – K7, K8, K10, J6 Butterfly number 13 – K7, L8, L9 Butterfly number 16 – C5, C6, D6, B6 Butterfly number 17 – B4, C3, D3, D4

1.The shaded boxes indicate where the lupine grows. Do Karner blue butterflies travel very far away from the lupine?

2. Does the lupine look like it grows throughout the whole map or in two patches?

3. Did you find any butterflies that flew from one patch of lupine to the other?

Lupine flower

4. Suppose all of the butterflies in one patch died and the butterflies in the other patch survived. Would the surviving butterflies fly far enough to repopulate the other patch?

Park rangers and researchers devised a plan to help the butterflies. First they had a prescribed burn. This is a controlled forest fire where rangers do not allow the fire to burn too hot. The fire did kill some bushes and small trees so more sunlight reached the forest floor.

Then fourth and fifth grade students came out and collected seeds. During the winter they grew lupine, grasses, and wildflowers seedlings to plant in the spring. With the fire and the help of the students a prairie community was regenerated. Place the numbers of the captured butterflies on the map.

Butterfly number 23 – C4, D4. B4 Butterfly number 25 – D5, D4, E4, F5

Butterfly number 26 – F6, G5, H7, H6 Butterfly number 30 – I6, I5, H6, J6

Butterfly number 33 – K9, K7, J7, I6 Butterfly number 35 – K10, M11, M12

5. How many patches of lupine are on the map?

6.Can you tell if the patches of lupine are close enough for butterflies to move from one patch of lupine to another?

7.What if all the butterflies in one patch died, could butterflies from the other patches migrate in to repopulate the patch?

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