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Waiting On The Wispy Wings

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 1, 2008

RUSKIN - Delicate cloudless sulphur butterflies flutter back and forth across a path at Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve as if to draw attention to themselves.

A small gaggle of experts-in-training walk the path, lugging nets, identification books and specimen jars. They pause and take note. They can hardly miss the pair, their yellow wings standing out starkly against a grassy green backdrop.

The tiny ceraunus blue butterflies, smaller than a quarter, require a more trained eye. These dainty fliers flutter lower on the radar, camouflaged against a carpet of yellow, pink and purple wildflowers.

The guardians of the gossamer wings, led by butterfly expert Akers Pence, train on the tiny blue treasures. Six more check marks go down on their census form.

Pence has made four trips to Cockroach Bay in recent months to work with this small group, eager to teach them how to identify the many butterfly species that live on the preserve.

"We're training citizen scientists," said Pence, who researches butterflies for the University of Florida and its McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity. The more eyes there are trained on America's butterflies, he said, the less chance they will end up on the endangered species list.

"It's a lot cheaper to do conservation before something is endangered," he said.

Pence serves as state coordinator for the Florida Butterfly Monitoring Network, an organization whose sole mission is to train volunteers who can help protect the state's dwindling butterfly populations. The program engages university scientists, zoological institution staff and conservation and land managers to train the volunteers.

If no one keeps track of these fancy fliers, Pence said, no one will know when they're in peril.

"You and I walk into our backyard and see common butterflies, but no one is watching to see how their populations are doing," said Pence, an entomologist, who specializes in the study of endangered species, including the Miami blue butterfly.

On one occasion, census takers may see 3,000 of a particular species, and on the next visit to the same spot only 30. This may mean they are in danger, or it may simply mean a shift of some sort in the habitat or population.

Places such as Camp Bayou, which is preserved in perpetuity, are perfect for butterfly surveys, Pence said. Because little is likely to change due to human development, the counts are more reliable.

If the same spot can be monitored regularly for years, trends and patterns can develop, he said, giving scientists a better idea of how a particular butterfly species is faring.

Dolly Cummings is already at it, training with Pence, then using her expanding knowledge to count butterflies at Camp Bayou. She hopes eventually to be able to train others to join her.

Cummings, director of the Ruskin nature preserve, initially was trained at Lowry Park Zoo. In 2006, with Pence's help, she set up transects, or study areas, at the preserve.

"I haven't even counted how many species we've found there, but the numbers do fluctuate," she said, preparing for the recent count at Cockroach Bay. She walks the transects each month.

At Cockroach Bay, in just four outings, citizen scientists have identified 30 species, including the fiery skipper, the common checkered skipper, the mangrove buckeye and the red admiral.

Even when preserve manager Richard Sullivan isn't working an official count, he sees numerous species of butterflies on his screen porch. "I get some in there just about every night," he said. He, too, is training under Pence.

"We have waves of people that want to do this stuff, but if they can't handle the mosquitoes, the chiggers and the sun, they won't come back," Pence said. "We may start with 40 volunteers and 12 will return. Of those, four will be very committed."

Cummings said she is hoping to get Pence to visit Camp Bayou in November to train new volunteers.

GET INVOLVED

Anyone interested in learning more about the initiative can go to the Web site for the Florida Butterfly Monitoring Network at www.flbutterflies .net or contact Dolly Cummings at Camp Bayou, camp bayou@yahoo.com.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or yhammett@tampatrib.com.

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