'Curiously isolated' butterfly species discovered in Waterton Lakes National Park

Rukhsar Ali · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 25, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 21 minutes ago

Tucked distant successful Waterton Lakes National Park, small greyish brownish butterflies — agelong thought to beryllium conscionable different colonisation of the half-moon hairstreak butterflies — are present being recognized arsenic their ain taxon known arsenic Satyrium curiosolus, oregon the curiously isolated hairstreak.

The pollinator lives exclusively crossed astir 300 hectares of the prairie-grassland scenery of the Blakiston Fan, the park's largest alluvial fan — level areas wherever flowing upland streams have deposited sediment.

And its territory is located more than 450 kilometres distant from immoderate of its comparative populations successful British Columbia oregon Montana, according to the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo, a spouse successful the study.

Zachary MacDonald, co-first writer alongside Julian Dupuis of a new survey published successful the biodiversity probe diary ZooKeys, said the caller taxon is an breathtaking discovery, but what comes adjacent is adjacent much so.

"This is conscionable the extremity of the iceberg," said MacDonald, La Kretz and NSERC postdoctoral chap astatine the University of California. "I deliberation what's astir absorbing to america is what bash we bash astir the conservation of this highly endangered taxon now?"

Using genomic tools, the researchers assembled the full DNA series of the idiosyncratic insects collected from Blakiston Fan. 

The resulting sets of genomes — on with ecological grounds — were utilized to find the curiously isolated hairstreak was some genetically and ecologically removed from its closest relatives up to 40,000 years ago.

James Glasier, a conservation colonisation ecologist and co-author of the study, said that erstwhile the Wilder Institute and Parks Canada began looking astatine this butterfly population, they didn't spell into it expecting to observe a caller species.

"When we benignant of went done those 5 years doing each the research, we recovered retired that it has a batch much unsocial traits than we thought," helium said. "And truthful it's great. It makes it an endemic, unsocial taxon to Alberta and Canada."

Meet the funny caller species

Named rather virtually for its curiosity-provoking isolation successful the Blakiston Fan, MacDonald said the curiously isolated hairstreak's genome indicates it has ever been tiny with a wingspan of an inch to an inch and a fractional (2.5 to 4 centimetres).

While different hairstreak populations person gone up and down successful size implicit clip (due to factors similar the past crystal age), the recently recognized butterfly "basically flatlined done time, and truthful it's been precise tiny and precise isolated for tens of thousands of years," helium explained.

On the outside, the caller taxon looks overmuch similar its closest relative, the half-moon hairstreak. But dissimilar the half-moon hairstreak, which thrives successful sagebrush steppe, the recently identified taxon relies connected silvery lupine arsenic its big works to make larvae and for caterpillars to provender on.

They besides person an absorbing communal narration with a peculiar taxon of ant (Lasius ponderosae). The curiously isolated hairstreak caterpillars excrete a sugary substance called honeydew for the ants to eat, portion the ants support the caterpillars from parasites and predators.

When disturbed oregon erstwhile the somesthesia is too hot, the caterpillars retreat into ant galleries, according to the study. Adult females person been seen laying their eggs adjacent the entrances of ant colonies, close nether the silvery lupine plant.

How genomics is reshaping taxonomy

MacDonald said the study's usage of genomics — the survey of an organism's genome — allowed the researchers to reply questions they couldn't rather get astatine before. 

With a tiny effectual colonisation of astir 500 individuals, the insect's genomic investigation revealed highly debased familial diverseness and exceptionally precocious levels of historical inbreeding, according to the study.

"You would presume that inbreeding slump is going to thrust this happening to extinction," MacDonald said. "But this colonisation has been precise tiny for a precise agelong time, and dilatory inbreeding has fundamentally allowed it to get escaped of its atrocious genes."

Arthur Shapiro, an entomologist and prof emeritus of improvement and ecology astatine the University of California, who was not progressive successful the study, said the probe is "one much lawsuit wherever the genetics tells the communicative much dramatically than the morphology." He said this bolsters scientists' condemnation that "there is much going connected retired determination than whitethorn beryllium superficially evident."

"Decisions astir taxon presumption utilized to beryllium predicated astir wholly connected morphology," helium explained successful an email. "Nowadays, genomics is of equal, if not overriding, importance."

Conserving the endangered butterflies

Glasier said the population's debased familial diverseness poses a large interest for conserving the endangered taxon arsenic it limits the butterfly's capableness to accommodate to biology alteration — particularly the consequences of a warming clime similar accrued wildfires.

He said the Wilder Institute, successful concern with Parks Canada, is already monitoring the colonisation to spot however it responds to changing conditions.

Another situation they're trying to tackle is invasive spotted knapweed, which threatens the prime of the butterflies' situation successful the Blakiston Fan. 

In the longer term, Glasier said the organizations are perchance looking astatine captive rearing. That means bringing immoderate butterflies nether quality attraction and releasing them backmost into either their earthy situation oregon uncovering them different location wrong the parkland to commencement up a secondary population.

"We person recovered a fewer places wherever we expect them to perchance survive, and truthful we're looking astatine potentially, successful the future, releasing them determination to dispersed the colonisation retired and let for them to benignant of grow a spot truthful that there's backup populations successful the future," helium said.

Glasier said the situation to conserve the curiously isolated hairstreaks is "definitely a puzzle" arsenic they enactment connected uncovering the champion ways to support the endangered species, but helium feels optimistic astir a "positive outcome."