Euphydryas anicia cloudcrofti

Overview

The Sacramento Mountains checkerspot is found only in high mountain meadows near the town of Cloudcroft in the Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico. The species is threatened by road maintenance and construction, livestock grazing in its habitat, invasive plants, climate change, campground improvements, construction of new houses, pesticide spraying, collection, and a land exchange between the U.S. Forest Service and Cloudcroft.

Description

The Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly (Euphydryas anicia cloudcrofti) has a checkered appearance, with white and deep orange squares separated by black bands. Its wingspan is about two inches (~5 cm) from tip to tip.

Life History

Adult butterflies lay their eggs on Penstemon neomexicanus and perhaps Valeriana edulis, the known larval host plants. New Mexico penstemon is an endemic species, restricted to the Sacramento Mountains of south-central New Mexico. After hatching, larvae feed on host plants until their fourth or fifth instar when they enter an extended diapause. Typically, this diapause occurs as the food plants die back in the fall because of freezing temperatures. Depending upon environmental conditions, some larvae may remain in diapause for more than one year.

During diapause, larvae probably hide in leaf or grass litter near the base of shrubs, under the bark of conifers, or in the loose soils associated with pocket gopher (Thomomys bottae) mounds. Once larvae break diapause, they feed and grow through three or four more instars before pupating and then emerging as adults. In general, diapause is broken in late spring (March-April) and adults emerge in mid-summer (June-July).

Distribution

This species is restricted to meadows within the mixed-conifer forest at elevations between roughly 2,450 and 2,750 m (8,000 and 9,000 ft) in the vicinity of the Village of Cloudcroft, Otero County, New Mexico. The subspecies has been documented at fifteen general localities. The known range of the butterfly is an 85 square km (33 square mi) area, within which the distribution of the butterfly is patchy and disjunct.

Conservation Status

In the near future, the United States Forest Service intends to begin work on a management plan to address the conservation of the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly and the threats it faces. However, no plan has been developed to date.

Conservation Needs

Working with landowners

Information unavailable at time of publication.

Education

Education sheets available at zoological facilities (e.g. zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens with butterflies, butterfly houses, natural history museums) or events at which Butterfly Conservation Initiative partners participate are a valuable way to disseminate information about imperiled butterflies.

When schools and other youth organizations study biodiversity and species extinctions they typically use examples of charismatic megafauna (e.g. bald eagles) or exotic creatures from the tropics. However, vulnerable species found within the state or ecoregion in which students live provide an excellent opportunity to develop curricular materials with a direct link to the students' home region. In addition to classroom studies, students may be able to visit sites to see the butterflies, as well as talk to the scientists and land managers involved in the species' conservation.

Educational activities that school students and community members could do include:

• studying butterfly (insect) life stages;
• researching the special habitat needs of the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot;
• corresponding or meeting with the biologists managing current Sacramento Mountains checkerspot sites;
• visiting Sacramento Mountains checkerspot sites during adult flight season;
• visiting captive breeding programs;
• assisting scientists with on-site habitat management;
• propagating and growing host plants for planting at butterfly sites or use in captive breeding programs; and
• writing letters to decision makers to ensure that the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot receives adequate resources and protection.

Research

The United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Forest Service have been engaged in research as part of the proposed listing.

Captive Rearing

None ongoing at this time.

Recovery Plan

Conservation Plan for the Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot Butterfly (3.7MB pdf)

More Info

• USFWS Contact: Eric Hein, Endangered Species Biologist, 2105 Osuna Road NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87113. Phone (505) 346-2525, extension 135
• US Forest Service: Lincoln National Forest, Michael Borkoski, Phone (505) 682-2551
• Center for Biological Diversity: P.O. Box 710, Tucson, AZ 85702-0710. Phone (520) 623-5252.

References

• Cary, Steven J., and Richard Holland. 1992. New Mexico Butterflies: Checklist, Distribution and Conservation. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera. 31(1-2):57-82.
• Arizona Game and Fish Department. (February, 1995). Status Designations Notebook. Heritage Data Management System (HDMS). Phoenix, AZ.
• Stanford, Ray E., and Paul A. Opler. 1993. Atlas of Western USA Butterflies, Including Adjacent Parts of Canada and Mexico. Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado. October 1995 Supplement.
• Proposed Endangered Status for the Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot Butterfly and Proposed Designation of Critical Habitat (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
• USFWS Sacramento Mountains checkerspot page

back to species profiles

Classification

Unlisted. USFWS determination (Federal Register: 29:244; 21 December 2004.

State Status

New Mexico State Species of Concern.

Range

NM

Critical Habitat

None

Acknowledgement

This profile was prepared by the Xerces Society for the Butterfly Conservation Initiative.