Bogue Banks’ New Butterfly

THE STRATEGIC location of Fort Macon on the eastern end of Bogue Banks may have protected troops during the Civil War, but today its status as a state park protects what may be a new species of butterfly. Nicknamed the “crystal skipper” by researchers because of its unique association with North Carolina’s Crystal Coast and the crystal-shaped white spots on its wings, this tiny brown butterfly is interesting in itself. But it may also help scientists better understand how landscapes fragmented by development affect the population structure and movement of organisms.
           
 “This butterfly displays an interesting kind of rarity,” says Allison Leidner, a North Carolina Sea Grant researcher and ecology doctoral student at North Carolina State University. “Globally, it’s very restricted – right now we only find it in a 30-mile by 300-foot stretch of barrier island in North Carolina – but locally it’s very abundant.”

The crystal skipper may be a subspecies of a rare butterfly found in the Southeast, but Leidner argues the Bogue Banks butterfly is unique regardless of its scientific classification.

“The species we think this butterfly might be related to occur in different places and use different kinds of habitats,” she says.

Crystal skippers are tightly associated with seaside little bluestem, a “host” plant that grows on sand dunes. Female butterflies lay their eggs on the plant, and growing larvae eat it, Leidner explains.

Reprinted from Coastwatch, a publication of NC Sea Grant.

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