Guidelines for rearing and conservation of the Baltimore checkerspot at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
(Book - Regular Print)

Thesis,MSES,Green Mountain College,2019

The recent decline of a documented population of the Baltimore Checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton) is a concern for conservationists in the Chicago region. Data collected by the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network since 1988 show that the population of the butterfly at Bluff Spring Fen, an Illinois Nature Preserve, has been formerly robust. From 2012 onward, no individuals have been sighted. A combination of drought and fire stress are suspected to have contributed to the extirpation of the Baltimore Checkerspot from this site. The Peggy Notebeart Nature Museum is taking steps to reintroduce the butterfly to Bluff Spring Fen. This guide offers an introduction to the conservation and ecology of the Baltimore Checkerpoint along with rearing guidelines, including a laboratory protocol. In keeping with its mission to be the Urban Gateway to Nature and Science, the Chicago Academy of Sciences/Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum is committed to butterfly conservation through a combination of in situ and ex situ conservation efforts. In exercising this part of our mission, we are committed to the following principles: 1) collaboration: all butterfly conservation work will be performed in close collaboration with land owners and managers in order to ensure that any species introduced is ecologically appropriate and can reasonably be expected to establish a population once released onto the site. Coordination of butterfly restoration and land management activities ensure that reintroduction site has sufficient habitat to support the species and that management plans call for maintenance and expansion of this habitat. 2) Ethical integrity: rearing and release will only be done after appropriate landowner agreements/permits are obtained both for removing founder stock from the source population and releasing individuals onto the restoration project. No butterflies will be removed from a site if doing so poses a significant risk to the source population. 3) Evaluation: any project undertaken will include appropriate post-release evaluation and monitoring in order to document the success or failure of a given project.