Abstract
The frosted elfin (Callophrys irus [Godart]; Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), is an imperiled species endemic to fire-maintained habitats in eastern North America. Callophrys irus spends the majority of the year as pupae that may be vulnerable to fires that occur during this life stage. One way C. irus survives fire is to burrow and pupate under the soil, but this behavior is variable between individuals. We ran an ex-situ test on the impact of two abiotic factors on the pupation depth of C.irus (n=60): ambient temperature and soil moisture. We used two incubators at 18℃ and 30℃ in addition to two moisture conditions of 5% and 15%. The null model outperformed other models, suggesting the effects of tested soil moisture and temperature levels on depth were negligible. The number of caterpillars that burrowed was similar to previous work as nine caterpillars burrowed fully beneath the soil surface. Therefore, if in-situ burrowing rates reflect our findings high mortality rates can be expected from fire. Only two caterpillars out of 60 (~ 3%) burrowed at a level deep enough to survive the expected lethal temperatures of a typical prescribed fire in north Florida.
Implications for insect conservation
Our results support previous recommendations on the importance of refugia and population/habitat-specific rotational burn schedules to ensure the long-term persistence of the species. These data, along with previously published evidence, suggest that caterpillars in-situ may be unlikely to pupate at depths deep enough to protect themselves against fire. Thus, land managers protecting small, isolated populations should consider artificial interventions when planning to burn.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Jessica Valdez and Apalachicola National Forest staff for allowing us to conduct work within the forest. Their overall support of the project has made this possible. We would also like to thank Dave McElveen and Jim Cox (Tall Timbers Research Station) for their edits and comments on the early manuscript and support of the project.
Funding
This project was made possible through funding from the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida’s Conserve Wildlife Tag (CWT 21 − 13) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s At-risk Species Program through the Wildlife Management Institute (SA 2020-04).
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Rob Meyer fulfilled the supervision role, funding acquisition, material preparation, and preformed the formal analysis and investigation. The conceptualizations and the original draft were written by Emma Jonas and Rob Meyer. All authors contributed to the methodology, the review and editing of each draft, and read and approved the final manuscript. Figure 1 was drawn by Emma Jonas using Inkscape 1.2.2.
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Jonas, E.N., Ball, N.T. & Meyer, R.T. The effect of soil moisture and ambient temperature on pupation depth for the imperiled Callophrys irus. J Insect Conserv 27, 805–811 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-023-00500-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-023-00500-z