From the Columbus Dispatch, August 30, 2009: "After 21-Year Absence, Tiny Butterfly Flits Back Into Ohio" by Jim McCormac, Ohio Division of Wildlife (ambrosia@columbus.rr.com) News of the natural world is too full of gloom and doom: extinctions, habitat loss, invasive flora and fauna. That's why July 3, 2009, will go down in the annals of uplifting stories of hope. That day, amateur lepidopterist Troy Shively and his grandfather, Ralph, spotted a swamp metalmark. The metalmark, Calephelis muticum, is a gorgeous butterfly and had not been seen in Ohio since 1988. Most experts thought that the nickel-sized butterfly had vanished. Few creatures are as showy as this elfin insect. Its upper wings are a rich orange dappled with black spots. Parallel stripes of glittering silver trim the wings, and their antennae resemble tiny back and white barber poles. More than 95 percent of Ohio's swamp metalmark habitat---wet prairie---has been destroyed, and what is left has been badly fragmented. It is no mystery why the butterfly has become a rarity. Once found in nine states across the Midwest, it has either vanished or become imperiled. Butterflies are specific about their host plants, laying eggs on only one or a few species that provide the proper nutrients to nourish the caterpillars. Swamp metalmarks are particularly finicky, using only swamp thistle, Cirsium muticum. The thistle itself is rare and local, further limiting potential metalmark sites. The Logan County fen where the Shivelys made their wondrous discovery is tiny: perhaps an acre and a half. On my visit, we tallied about 15 butterflies. Small relict populations such as this are highly vulnerable and can blink out rapidly. This beautiful, ornate butterfly symbolizes the fascinating fauna that hang on in the remnants of our prairie past. Now, prairies and their wettest parts, the fens, are nearly gone. Along with the metalmark, dozens of other species of animals and plants have disappeared or become endangered. Although tiny, the fen that hosts the swamp metalmarks is chock-full of diversity. We saw many rare plants, including shrubby cinquefoil, Dasiphora fruticosa. Its lemon-yellow blossoms are a favorite nectar source of the metalmark. Many other butterflies flitted about, including the uncommon mulberry wing skipper, Poanes massasoit. Few Ohio habitats support the diversity of life that prairies and fens do. Nearly all of them have been destroyed. It's time to draw a line in the peat and protect those that remain. Hear, hear!
