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Jul

23

2007
 
 

Flying in the face of extinction



Rare butterfly is surprisingly mobile, a trait that could save it from oblivion

another species slipping through the net?Why are some species rare when their close relatives are common? A study of the sister butterfly species Orachrysops ariadne (the rare one) and O. subravus (its common counterpart) might provide the answer, according to University of Stellenbosch entomologist Michael Samways and co-author Shen-Shan Lu. Using mark-recapture techniques they discovered that whilst O. ariadne is indeed staggeringly rare, it’s not down to poor flying skills as one might predict. The findings, published in Biodiversity and Conservation, show that in fact it flies better than the much more widespread O. subravus. That’s probably because it has evolved an extremely specialized ecological niche — feeding and laying eggs only on the similarly rare host plant Indigofera woodii var. laxa. However, habitat fragmentation and agricultural disturbance are increasingly isolating suitable patches: work is underway to link the four remaining populations together. Source: Samways MJ & Lu S-S (2007) Key traits in a threatened butterfly and its common sibling: implications for conservation. Biodiversity and Conservation DOI 10.1007/s10531-007-9209-z

Related story in Conservation magazine: Nectar Trails of Migratory Pollinators

Image © Robert Robinson

Filed Under Endangered species, Habitat, Monitoring | 

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