The butterfly effect: six endangered Poweshiek skipperlings take flight in Manitoba

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This article was published 04/07/2018 (2958 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There are now six more Poweshiek skipperling butterflies fluttering through southeastern Manitoba.

Six might not sound like a lot, but recent estimates by conservation specialists suggest there are fewer than 100 of the extremely endangered butterflies left in just two locations: the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s Tall Grass Prairie Natural Area in southeastern Manitoba and a site near Flint, Mich.

The Assiniboine Park Conservancy released the butterflies at the Tall Grass Prairie Natural Area last week. The butterflies were bred and reared in captivity.

Last summer, the conservancy brought two wild female Poweshiek skipperlings to the Assiniboine Park Zoo for three days to lay eggs before releasing the two breeding females back in the wild.

Once the eggs hatched, conservation specialists monitored the caterpillars in a climate-controlled incubator over the winter.

“In the lab, we place the skipperlings in an incubator that remains a constant -4 C to simulate wild conditions where they would normally spend the winter under the snow pack,” said Laura Burns, a conservation research specialist with the APC. Every caterpillar survived the winter.

The Poweshiek skipperling’s historic range included the grasslands of southeastern Manitoba and the U.S. Midwest; however, as North America’s extensive prairies were converted to farmland, the Poweshiek skipperling lost its habitat along with various other animals, birds and insects.

After the success of the project, the APC is planning on expanding the program by capturing more females this summer to breed more caterpillars over the winter.

The conservancy, along with partner organizations, are researching other threats to the species’ recovery. The threats include climate change, pesticides and invasive species. The APC partnered with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, the Minnesota Zoo, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Winnipeg, among other conservancy groups in both Canada and the U.S.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca