The New Mexico Rare Arthropod Resource

This butterfly is univoltine with a single flight coinciding with the blooming of its host plant this generally occurs from middle to late July to early September although most individuals fly in August (Ferris and Brown 1981, Pyle 1981, Scott 1986, USFS 2015, NatureServe 2024). During flight males patrol around host plants all day searching for females and both sexes nectar on the flowers of their host plants as well as mud (Ferris and Brown 1981, Scott 1986). The larvae of this butterfly are tended by ants and do not form nests they also overwinter as pupae (Scott 1986).

However, if after research conservation actions are required then starting by protecting areas of undisturbed transition zone prairie is likely first priority. Determining connectivity between populations and surveying to see which populations are still extant should also be a priority to gauge population health and the threat of inbreeding depression.

These small isolated populations which still survive on remaining minimally disturbed prairie fragments are highly susceptible to localized extinctions by environmental stochasticity, disturbance, or habitat alteration (Panzer 1988, NatureServe 2024). These habitat islands are also still quite threatened by invasive species, over or under grazing, land use change, climate change, and catastrophic wildfires (USFS 2015, NatureServe 2024). 

Wildfires and extreme weather events are especially detrimental for this butterfly as this taxa generally does not move very far from its host plant during its life. This limited dispersal range due to their sedentary nature reduces the likelihood of recolonization of areas extirpated by wildfire or environmental stochasticity (USFS 2015). With climate change making areas drier and invasive species increasing fuel loads across the western United States hotter fires are expected to happen more frequently then they previously did to the likely detriment of this butterflies host plant (Abatzoglou and Kolden 2011, Fusco et al. 2019). Drought and warming temperatures have also been shown to cause declines in many other butterfly species across the western United States with Forister et al. 2021 finding a decline in abundance of most of 272 widespread western butterfly species. These declines were estimated to be a continual 1.6% decline in abundance per year which were primarily correlated with warming temperatures (Forister et al. 2010, 2021). Climate warming may also put this butterfly at increased risk of phenological mismatch especially as this taxa is univoltine (Singer and Parmesan 2010, Patterson et al. 2019). Being univoltine also puts this taxa at higher risk of extinction not only by making it more prone to phenological mismatch but also by reducing this butterfly's already low dispersion range (Eskildsen et al. 2015, Forister et al. 2023). This butterfly is also fairly host specific, currently being documented on only three host plants all of which are Buckwheats and the majority of the populations have only been observed using two species (Scott 1986, Opler and Wright 1999, Cary and Toliver 2024). Host specificity is a key indicator of extinction risk in butterflies as butterflies with limited numbers of host plants or very similar host plants are susceptible to the threats to those species (Kotiaho et al. 2005, Palash et al. 2022, Forister et al. 2023). 

As the remaining populations of this butterfly are small, regional endemic, and isolated inbreeding depression is also a major threat.  Inbreeding depression results when slightly deleterious alleles accumulate in a small population, reducing the likelihood of population persistence (Hedrick 1994, Lynch et al. 1995). The accumulation of deleterious alleles and reduction in heterozygosity have been shown to reduce survival rates at several important life stages in butterflies, including those that have an effect on population stability and persistence, even after just one generation of mating between full-siblings (Saccheri et al. 1998, Nieminen et al. 2001). Nieminen et al. (2001) also suggests that inbreeding depression may pose an even greater problem in populations currently experiencing rapid habitat fragmentation but with minimal inbreeding in the past. A reduction in fitness resulting from the loss of genetic diversity significantly increases the risk of extinction when populations are subject to environmental stress. Saccheri et al. (1998) found that microclimatic conditions combined with inbreeding caused the extinction of a checkerspot population in Finland, while Singer and Ehrlich (1979) found a combination of drought, fragmented habitat, and low dispersal rates contributed to the extinction of several checkerspot populations in California. Thus just increasing isolation by itself may pose a major threat to this sedentary butterfly. 

Additionally, in Colorado's 2015 State Wildlife Action Plan they remark that this butterfly has low population numbers and that its trend is declining (CPW 2015). This makes sense as many experts have remarked at how naturally rare this butterfly is despite its widespread distribution. Also due to the many threats still affecting this butterfly and its habitat it is logical that the taxa is continuing to decline and will do so into the future however, data is needed to corroborate this.