Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: The Poweshiek Skipperling – the Endangered
The Star Tribune has been doing a series on endangered native species. I was shocked to read this line from their latest article on the Poweshiek skipperling, “This prairie butterfly suffered one of the most sudden and complete population collapses of any species in North American history”. Let THAT sink in.
According to the U.S. Fish and wildlife service, these small butterflies were once found in native prairie in Manitoba, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. They once numbered in the millions in Minnesota alone.
At their peak of population, more than half lived in Minnesota. They’re now known only from Michigan, Manitoba and perhaps one location in Wisconsin. More information from the Minnesota DNR.
These thumbnail-sized butterflies are a silvery orange and brown with white veins on their wings that look like pinstripes. They fly in short bursts, almost skipping from one blade of grass to another.
Two biologists from the Minnesota Zoo have been working for a very long time to bring the Poweshiek back from the brink of extinction. They nurtured 67 caterpillars with the intent that they become butterflies, mate with Poweshieks in Michigan and those survive in the grasslands. There is WAY more to this story that 2 minutes gives me.
Bottom line is there are a myriad of possibilities as to WHY these butterflies have died off so dramatically.
Climate change, pesticides, habitat loss and on and on. Will these dedicated humans be able to help, that’s yet to be determined.
While species of every kind die off at some point or another, the hope is that we as humans wouldn’t speed up the process so much!