Rare Butterfly At Hagerman

Text and photos by Laurie Sheppard

One of the ongoing projects of the Butterfly Garden Docents is to identify every species of butterfly that lives on or visits Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. The Butterfly Garden is commonly visited by a wide variety of butterfly species. Some previously rarely seen butterflies have become common sightings because of their attraction to the garden’s nectar and host plants. However, volunteers frequently find new species in places other than the garden. This is the story of a butterfly that is unlikely to ever visit the Butterfly Garden. It favors a specific habitat and rarely travels far from its “birthplace”.

Driving down Sandy Point Road last spring, I saw many yellow flowers along the roadside and in the open fields around the oil pumpers. There were several different types of butterflies hovering around, so I stopped to check what species were there. When I looked closely, I found a butterfly I had never seen before clinging to the stalk of the plant. It was a Frosted Elfin and we logged it as a new species on the refuge. In November, when we were reviewing the new species for the year, we discovered this little butterfly is the subject of great concern due to its diminishing numbers and actual disappearance from large parts of its historic range.

Frosted Elfin

Historical records show that the Frosted Elfin was found throughout the eastern half of Texas. However, in the past decade, only three sightings, including the one at Hagerman had been made public, adding to the uncertainty over the butterfly’s status. It is speculated that loss of habitat is the greatest threat to this species. The North American Butterfly Association received a Texas Conservation License Plate Wildlife Diversity Grant to create a “state status assessment of the Frosted Elfin”. Volunteer Texas Master Naturalists are participating in this effort with the cooperation and assistance of the Butterfly Garden Docents and refuge staff.

The host plant for the Frosted Elfin in Texas is any of three varieties of Wild Indigo. Yellow Wild Indigo (Baptisia sphaerocarpa) grows abundantly in the Sandy Unit of the refuge, so that was our target area for investigation. The plants began to emerge in early March but were obscured by last year’s grasses and refuse. We checked the area frequently and eventually, could see how widespread the plants are. They are now forming buds and will soon be blooming. Finally, on March 21, we saw our first Frosted Elfins of 2018.

The Frosted Elfins are currently mating and placing their eggs on or near the plants’ flower buds. As the plants develop and bloom, the eggs will hatch and tiny Frosted Elfin caterpillars will feed and grow. The caterpillars will be less than half an inch long when they pupate. Each of this year’s caterpillars will begin metamorphosis but remain in its chrysalis until emerging as an adult butterfly next spring. Frosted Elfins have only one brood per year.

So far this year, we’ve identified at least fifteen adult butterflies while looking only at the edges of the fields of Wild Indigo. It’s likely there are more that haven’t been seen. These butterflies may have escaped notice at Hagerman because of their small size (a closed wingspan of 1/2"), secretive low-flying behavior, and similarity to other dark butterflies also emerging in early spring. Now that we know where they are, though, the habitat can be protected to secure these threatened butterflies.

Survey of Visitors Set to Begin at HNWR

By Jean Flick

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge has been selected as a participant in the National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Survey for 2018.  The thirty-five refuges selected represent all regions of the country and each has annual visitation of at least 50,000.  Two sampling periods are scheduled at HNWR, with the first period from March 22 – April 1.  The second sampling period will be in the fall.  During each survey period, two survey staff will conduct visitor surveys at four refuge locations.  Multiple areas were selected in an effort to capture visitors with diverse interests in the refuge.  

Watercolor- HNWR Visitor Center -  by Sandy Weir

During the first survey period, the selected areas include the Visitor Center, Harris Creek Trailhead and Kiosk, Big Mineral Day Use Area, and the intersection of Refuge Road and Wildlife Drive.  Visitors will be asked if they are willing to participate in an online or mail survey.  If willing, contact information will be collected by the surveyors.  The surveyors, who are from American Conservation Experience (ACE) and the Ohio State University, will be housed at the refuge during the two sampling periods.

According to Kathy Whaley, refuge manager, the USFWS has increased its emphasis on improving visitor services and experiences in recent years.  The Visitor Survey is designed to gather information about who visits refuges, and what activities are most important to visitors.  The survey also assesses visitor satisfaction with access, facilities, and available recreational opportunities, as well as looking at related transportation on and off the refuge, and the economic contribution of visitors to the local economy. 

HNWR participated in the last National Visitor Survey, conducted in 2012.  At that time, over 10,000 responses were received from the 73 refuges that participated, with over 200 responses received from visitors at HNWR.  Surveyed visitors at HNWR listed participation in a variety of refuge activities during the 12 months prior to completing the survey; the top three activities in which people reported participating were bird watching (71%), wildlife observation (71%), and auto tour route/driving (53%). The primary reasons identified for visitors’ most recent visits included bird watching (32%), hunting (13%), and wildlife observation (10%). Eighty-seven percent of visitors also used the HNWR Visitor Center during their visits.  In all areas of visitor satisfaction, the response rates ranged from 94-97% expressing satisfaction.  Over half of visitors surveyed expressed interest in a tram tour of the refuge.  A twice-weekly tram tour was implemented in 2012 and is conducted by FOH volunteers.

The overall satisfaction of visitors at HNWR is clearly evidenced by the increase in visitation at HNWR, increasing from 135,000 in 2011 to 181,000 in 2017.  Kathy Whaley expressed hope that the 2018 Visitor Survey will continue to affirm the work of  the HNWR staff and volunteers of “doing what we are supposed to be doing, ” as expressed in the USFWS publication “Meet the National Wildlife Refuge System:  Special Places Where Wildlife and People Thrive:”

The Refuge System strives to make refuges welcoming, safe, and accessible places for visitors, and to provide visitors a variety of ways to enjoy, learn about, appreciate, and help conserve fish, wildlife, and plants. While carrying out national conservation goals, we strive to be valued components of local communities. We also strive to foster an informed and engaged citizenry that actively supports and understands the value of conservation and the role of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

The Perfect Host

In the Butterfly Garden at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, there is a butterfly nursery out there just waiting for warm spring weather.  These are plants that will feed, or host butterfly and moth caterpillars once eggs begin to hatch.

According to Gardens with Wings,

If you keep an eye out you’ll see the female as she flits around the plant, gently laying her next brood’s eggs, sometimes on the top of leaves but usually on the bottom, hidden from predators.  Then, in 10 to 14 days, the tiny larvae, less than an eighth inch long, emerge and begin eating the plant. It’s a fascinating process as they munch away, growing larger every day. Equally fascinating is watching the caterpillar leave the plant to form a chrysalis.    

And from The Butterfly Site:

Because tiny caterpillars cannot travel far to find their own food, the female butterfly locates and lays her eggs on only the type of plant that the caterpillar can use as food. Most species of caterpillars are particular about the type of plants they can eat. If the egg was not placed on the correct plant, the caterpillar hatching from that egg will not survive.

So what is on the menu?  

Click here for a list of common garden plants that host caterpillars in North Texas, from the North American Butterfly Association. (Scroll past Nectar Plants to Host Plants)

  

Here are just a few of the “caterpillar nurseries” that have been planted in the garden at the Refuge, and the species they will host:

• Milk Weed - Asclepias tuberosa and Asclepias viridis –Monarch and Queen
• Texas Redbud, Yaupon Holly  – Henry’s Elfin
• Carolina Buckthorn – American Snout
• Inland Sea Oats – Bell’s Roadside Skipper
• Downy Forestiera -  Hairstreaks
• Passionvine – Gulf Fritillary
• Partridge Pea - Cloudless Sulphur
• Frogfruit - Phaon Crescent

All of these host plants grow naturally as well at Hagerman. When you see some raggedy chewed up leaves on these host plants, you will know new butterflies will soon appear!

Monarch Caterpillar, by Brenda Loveless

NOTE:  This post has been updated from the original publication on  February 2, 2015.

From the Nature Nook Bookshelf - Wetland Birds of North America

From the Nature Nook Bookshelf:

Wetland Birds of North America, a Guide to Observation, Understanding and Conservation

By Scott Leslie

Author Scott Leslie offers an ode to wetlands in this excellent book on wetland birds found in the HNWR Nature Nook.  Describing wetlands as “hotbeds of life,” he first discusses the diversity of wetland habitats, then provides a chapter on the intricate complexity of wetland ecosystems.

To help the reader identify and learn about wetland bird species, over 70 representative “core” birds found throughout North American wetlands are discussed. These core birds are divided into categories which include waterfowl, wading birds, birds of prey, rails, shorebirds, gulls and terns, diving birds and perching birds.  Beautiful color photos of each core bird are included, along with descriptions of appearance, habitat, calls, behavior, family life, migration patterns, and conservation concerns.

The author concludes with a gentle plea to preserve and protect wetland habitat, reminding readers that wetlands are more than a great natural spectacle, but, are, in fact, “home” for the many birds we love.

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge includes 2600 acres of wetlands and is home to over 300 bird species through the course of the year.  USFWS is the primary federal agency charged with collecting data for the National Wetlands Inventory.  The initial NWI report estimates that in the first 200 years of our nation’s history, half of all original wetlands in the lower 48 states was lost.

Writer and anthropologist Loren Eiseley wrote, “If there is magic in this planet it is contained in water.”

Take time to enjoy and appreciate the “hotbeds of life” found on the refuge, then browse through the pages of “Wetland Birds of North America” to deepen your knowledge and awareness of the magic within.

The Nature Nook is run by Friends of Hagerman Wildlife Refuge.  All proceeds go to activities and projects at Hagerman NWR.

Book review by Jean Flick.

Roughleaf Dogwood - Plant of the Month, March, 2018

Rough-leaf Dogwood

Cornus drummondii

By David Parrish

Miracles

deep within the woods

a white dogwood blooms~

a bluebird cheers

Copyright © Patricia Sawyer (2009)

Over forty species of birds including bobwhite quail, wild turkey, numerous songbirds, plus some small mammals value the small white berries of the rough-leaf dogwood. Early each summer, from May to August, the rough-leaf dogwood flowers into clusters of small white flowers with four petals. These flowers attract a variety of pollinating insects such as native bees and butterflies which are seeking nectar.

Figure 1. [dogwood-flowers.jpg] Rough-leaf dogwood flowers. (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Wasowski, Sally and Andy. May 1988. Unrestricted)

Then from August until October, the flowering clusters give way to the clusters of the much-valued fruit. These berries are drupes about ¼ inch in diameter which sometimes have small pink spots or streaks. Don’t hesitate if you hope to see the fruit of the rough-leaf dogwood because they are consumed quickly and seldom last into the winter months.

Figure 2. [dogwood-fruit.jpg] Rough-leaf Dogwood Drupes. (Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Bransford, W.D. and Dolphia. 1988. Unrestricted)

This plant readily sprouts from its roots. The rough-leaf dogwood or Cornus drummondii is a shrub or small tree that grows near the edge of the forest, along fence rows, or along streams. Farmers use this plant to form shelterbelts in the prairie-plains regions. This plant is commonly used as an ornamental species.

                          Figure 3. [dogwood-shelterbelt.jpg] Dogwood shelterbelt.  (USDA, Lincoln County Minnesota, SWCD.                                         Date unknown. Public)

Leaves are simple and opposite, oblong to elliptic with a pointy tip. They are ½ to 2 ½ wide and 1 to 5 inches long. The upper surface is olive green and roughly, pubescent (hairy). It’s the only local species of dogwood with rough leaves. Edges are wavy. Leaves have a distinct, prominent curving vein pattern on the underside of the leaf. By the late summer, leaves take on a keeled or boat-shaped appearance. To tell if a leaf is from the genus Cornus (dogwoods) grasp it near the tip and at the base and tear it in two laterally.  The veins will look like connected elastic threads. Young twigs are opposite and green but turn reddish with age. These are characteristics that can be used to help identify this species.

Figure 4. [dogwood-leaf.jpg] Rough-leaf dogwood leaf showing vein pattern and wavy edge. (TPWD, Chase Koll, Palmetto State Park Plants (Quiz),  https://quizlet.com/215052336/palmetto-state-park-plants-flash-cards/ )

At Spring Creek Park Preserve, the Garland Parks Department mows annually to sustain the prairie. There, a stand of rough-leaf dogwood has formed into a perfect circular colony 3 foot-high and 10-15 feet in diameter (see photo). Naturalists have used some of these saplings to replace invasive privets removed along an erosion-prone creek bank. The success rate is reported at 90%. 

Figure 5. [Dogwood-colony.jpg] Rough-leaf dogwood colony in Garland Preserve. (Parrish, David. January 2018. Unrestricted) 

E.O. Wilson concludes his autobiography, Naturalist, saying, “…if (he) could do it all over again, … (he) would be a microbial ecologist.” Ecologists in Illinois studied changes in soil microbes as areas transitioned from open prairies to shrubland to forest (Yannarell, et al; 2014).  Light woody encroachment into the prairies from the forests in the study sites included rough-leaf dogwood and sumacs. More heavily encroached areas also included honey locust and red cedar. Forest and prairie microbial communities are very different from each other. As the degree of encroachment increases, microbial communities shift to reflect the forest ecosystem. This may be an important process in the succession from grasslands to forests. So, this raises the question, does a land manager want to maintain a prairie or create a forest? 

Figure 6. [microbe-study-design.gif] Schematic representation of the study design and analysis. The diagram shows two prairie remnants with differing degrees of shrub encroachment, as well as the surrounding forest and river bluffs. (Yannarell, et al, Microb Ecol (2014))

References

Linex, Ricky J. (2014) Range Plants of North Central Texas. USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Weatherford, Texas 76086.

Vines, Robert A. (1982) Trees of North Texas. University of Texas press, Austin, Texas 78712.

Plant Database. Cornus drummondii. https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=codr, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78739.

Wilson, E.O. (1994) Naturalist. Island Books, Washington, DC 20009.

University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES). "Soil microbes shift as shrubs invade remnant hill prairies." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 March 2014. < https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140311124023.htm  >.  

Yannarell, A.C., Menning, S.E. & Beck, A.M. Microb Ecol (2014) 67: 897. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-014-0369-6

Note:  Watch for Roughleaf Dogwood in bloom along the fence rows, forest edges and in the Butterfly Garden at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge this spring! 
David Parrish is a member of the North Dallas Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists and regularly volunteers at Hagerman NWR.