The Lake Huron Centre For Coastal Conservation
Advocating Wise Stewardship of Lake Huron's Coastal Ecosystems
Coastal Insects
Insects are an essential part of the coastal ecosystem. Here are some interesting coastal endemic species with fascinating life cycles.
Karner Blue Butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis)
The Karner blue butterfly is an endangered species. An endangered species is a plant or animal that is in danger of becoming extinct.
The oak savanna and sand prairie ecosystems that support the Karner blue butterfly are almost as rare as the butterfly itself. Small patches of this habitat exist in the far southern portions of Lake Huron (around the Pinery-Kettle Point area).
The Karner blue requires wild lupine, which is the only plant the Karner blue caterpillar is known to feed on, and therefore is critical to the butterfly’s survival. Other plants are also important to the adult butterfly, such as butterfly weed, horsemint, orange hawkweed, ox-eye-daisy and hairy puccoon.
The male appearance is a light blue with sivery, indigo coloured wings. The female is greyish-brown, especially on the outer portions of its wings, to blue on the topside.
Useful links ...
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University of Guelph's "Insect Collection"
www.uoguelph.ca/~samarsha/index.htm -
Insects of North Lambton County (Lambton Wildlife Incorporated)
www.uoguelph.ca/~samarsha/Lambton-intro.htm
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The Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation P.O. Box 178, Blyth, Ontario, Canada N0M 1H0 Phone: (519) 523-4478 Email: coastalcentre@lakehuron.on.ca |
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