Recovery and Maintenance of Self-sustaining Populations of the Endangered Mottled Duskywing

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The Mottled Duskywing is an endangered butterfly in Canada that is restricted to southwestern Ontario and southeastern Manitoba. This species is associated with some of the rarest ecosystems in Canada, such as oak savannas, oak and pine woodlands, tallgrass prairies, and alvars with early successional habitat where its larval host plant (Ceanothus spp.) occurs. It has been lost from the majority of historically occupied locations in Canada and is declining throughout North America due to habitat loss, fragmentation, and poor management. Although the Mottled Duskywing is imperiled throughout most of its North American range, very little published research exists on the species, and no efforts to recover imperiled populations have occurred anywhere in the US or Canada. The goal of this five-year project is to conduct research aimed at reversing the decline of Mottled Duskywing and establish Ontario's first butterfly reintroduction. Led by a collaborative, interdisciplinary team from the University of Guelph, Western University, University of Winnipeg, Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Wildlife Preservation Canada, Natural Resource Solutions Inc., Alderville Black Oak Savanna, and Ontario Parks, this research partnership will pave the way for butterfly conservation efforts throughout Canada and, for this endangered species, to implement leading-edge recovery efforts throughout eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. There are three critical components needed to achieve the project goal of recovering sustainable populations of the Mottled Duskywing: 1) an understanding of the demography of existing subpopulations, 2) identification of the genetic diversity of existing subpopulations, and 3) establishment of a successful captive rearing program. To address these components, the project builds on the well-established expertise of the research team and partner organizations. Canada will benefit from this research because it will support a locally-sourced model for the conservation and recovery planning of an insect species at risk and it will mitigate future costs of recovery programs, resulting in significant long-term economic benefits.