Novel Observations of Larval Fire Survival, Feeding Behavior, and Host Plant Use in the Regal Fritillary,<i>Speyeria idalia</i>(Drury) (Nymphalidae)

McCullough, Kelsey; Albanese, Gene; Haukos, David A.

doi:10.18473/lepi.71i3.a4

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Observations of regals declining immediately following burns have led to the assumption that fire kills regal larvae (Swengel 1996, Huebschman and Bragg 2000, Powell et al 2007, Swengel et al 2011, Moranz et al 2014). However, observations of regal larvae in areas that had been burned ≤61 d prior to detection suggest that prescribed fire does not necessarily result in complete larvae mortality and persistence of regals on recently burned sites is likely a function of both larval survival and adult recolonization (McCullough et al 2017).…”

Section: Fire-return Intervalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…; Klots 1951, Hammond 1974, Ferris and Brown 1981. In the Midwest and Great Plains, USA, larvae are reported to predominantly feed on bird's-foot (Viola pedata) and prairie violet (Viola pedatifida; Swengel 1997, Dole et al 2004, McCullough et al 2017); however, larvae have also been documented using wild pansy (Viola tricolor; Shuey et al 2016) and common blue violet (Viola sororia; Caven et al 2017, McCullough et al 2017. In the Midwest and Great Plains, USA, larvae are reported to predominantly feed on bird's-foot (Viola pedata) and prairie violet (Viola pedatifida; Swengel 1997, Dole et al 2004, McCullough et al 2017); however, larvae have also been documented using wild pansy (Viola tricolor; Shuey et al 2016) and common blue violet (Viola sororia; Caven et al 2017, McCullough et al 2017.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regal larvae can feed on a variety of violet species, but specific violet species tend to dominate within different populations (Selby 2007). In the Midwest and Great Plains, USA, larvae are reported to predominantly feed on bird's-foot (Viola pedata) and prairie violet (Viola pedatifida; Swengel 1997, Dole et al 2004, McCullough et al 2017; however, larvae have also been documented using wild pansy (Viola tricolor; Shuey et al 2016) and common blue violet (Viola sororia; Caven et al 2017, McCullough et al 2017.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Management regime and habitat response influence abundance of regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia) in tallgrass prairie

et al. 2019

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The >2,570,000-ha Flint Hills ecoregion of Kansas, USA, harbors the largest remaining contiguous tract of tallgrass prairie in North America, a unique system, as the remainder of North America's tallgrass prairie has succumbed to development and conversion. Consequently, the loss and degradation of tallgrass prairie has reduced populations of many North American prairie-obligate species including the regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia) butterfly. Population abundance and occupied range of regal fritillary have declined >99%, restricting many populations to isolated, remnant patches of tallgrass prairie. Such extensive decline has resulted in consideration of the regal fritillary for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Although it is widely accepted that management practices such as fire, grazing, and haying are necessary to maintain prairie ecosystems, reported responses by regal fritillary to these management regimes have been ambiguous. We tested effects of prescribed fire across short, moderate, and long fire-return intervals as well as grazing and haying management treatments on regal fritillary density. We also tested the relative influence of habitat characteristics created by these management regimes by measuring density of an obligate host plant (Viola spp.) and canopy cover of woody vegetation, grasses, forbs/ferns, bare ground, and litter. We found density was at least 1.6 times greater in sites burned with a moderate fire-return interval vs. sites burned with short and long fire-return intervals. Overall management regardless of fire-return interval did not have an effect on density. Percent cover of grass had the strongest positive association, while percent cover of woody vegetation had the greatest negative effect on density. Our results indicate that patch-burning is a viable and perhaps even ideal management strategy for regal fritillary in tallgrass prairie landscapes. Additionally, these results elucidate the importance of fire, particularly when applied at moderate-return intervals to regal fritillary, and corroborate a growing suite of studies that suggest fire is perhaps not as detrimental to populations of regal fritillary as previously believed.

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Section: Fire-return Intervalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Management regime and habitat response influence abundance of regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia) in tallgrass prairie

et al. 2019

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“…Fire and grazing may have positive or negative effects in different systems depending on their intensity. For example, S. egleis egleis have been documented to colonize new areas after wild fire, with declines associated with succession and overgrowth afterward [22], and S. idalia larvae appear capable of surviving low to moderate surface fires [27]. For S. diana , prescribed fire appears to help with adult nectar sources [28], but repeated fire may harm Viola populations [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Larval Food Limitation in a Speyeria Butterfly (Nymphalidae): How Many Butterflies Can Be Supported?

Hill

Rush

Mayberry

2018

Insects

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For herbivorous insects the importance of larval food plants is obvious, yet the role of host abundance and density in conservation are relatively understudied. Populations of Speyeria butterflies across North America have declined and Speyeria adiaste is an imperiled species endemic to the southern California Coast Ranges. In this paper, we study the link between the food plant Viola purpurea quercetorum and abundance of its herbivore Speyeria adiaste clemencei to better understand the butterfly’s decline and aid in restoration of this and other Speyeria species. To assess the degree to which the larval food plant limits adult abundance of S. a. clemencei in 2013, we compared adult population counts to population size predicted from a Monte Carlo simulation using data for number of V. pur. quercetorum plants, number of leaves per plant, and leaf area per plant, with lab estimates of leaf area consumed to reach pupal stage on the non-native host V. papilionacea. Results indicated an average estimate of 765 pupae (median = 478), with 77% of the distribution being <1000 pupae. However, this was heavily dependent on plant distribution, and accounting for the number of transect segments with sufficient host to support a pupa predicted 371 pupae. The adult population empirical estimate was 227 individuals (95% CI is 146 to 392), which lies near the first quartile of the simulated distribution. These results indicate that the amount of host available to larvae was more closely linked to adult abundance than the amount of host present, especially when considering assumptions of the analyses. The data also indicate that robust populations require host density well in excess of what is eaten by larvae, in combination with appropriate spacing, to mitigate factors such as competition, starvation from leaving host patches, or unrelated to food plant, such as mortality from drought, predators, parasites, or disease.

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Novel Observations of Larval Fire Survival, Feeding Behavior, and Host Plant Use in the Regal Fritillary,Speyeria idalia(Drury) (Nymphalidae)

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 2 publications

References 38 publications

Management regime and habitat response influence abundance of regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia) in tallgrass prairie

Management regime and habitat response influence abundance of regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia) in tallgrass prairie

Larval Food Limitation in a Speyeria Butterfly (Nymphalidae): How Many Butterflies Can Be Supported?

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