Saint Francis Satyr: A Butterfly Reliant on Artillery -- Chris Orman

A 155mm howitzer at Fort Bragg Army Base. Courtesy of U.S. Army.

By Chris Orman

With a loud whistle, a US Army 155mm artillery shell falls from the sky, exploding with a deafening boom and killing an endangered Saint Francis satyr butterfly. With just a 40 millimeter wingspan, these butterflies don’t stand a chance against explosives designed to destroy buildings. More shells fall from the sky, killing a few more butterflies and larvae. The North Carolina swamp inhabited by these butterflies begins to smolder from the shelling and a small fire burns down some of the larger trees.

While the artillery shells may seem predatory in nature, in reality they actually are beneficial for this endangered butterfly.

Known counties where the Saint Francis satyr lives.
Courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Discovered relatively recently in 1983 (The Land Trust for Central North Carolina), the Saint Francis satyr butterfly has, throughout history, relied on fire and beavers to provide its habitat. The disturbances in ecosystems due to fire and beavers clear swampy meadows of larger trees so that smaller sedges may grow, thereby providing these small brown butterflies a home and food (North Carolina State University). Today, the beavers are gone and only fire is left to provide the disturbance in the otherwise peaceful meadows. This is because the only known population of the Saint Francis satyr resides on Fort Bragg’s artillery firing range, a place beavers have learned to stay away from (Fish and Wildlife Service).

While it may seem counter intuitive, the recovery plan for this tiny butterfly calls for the military to continue to launch explosive projectiles into its habitat (Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Plan). The butterfly’s reliance on ecological disturbances means that if succession continues in a habitat for too long, the butterfly will no longer be able to live there as the habitat will become too overgrown.

Twice a year adult butterflies exit their cocoons and fly around for 3-4 days (Cornell University). The butterfly’s scarcity, along with its dark wing spots with white centers and orange bands on the wing

A Saint Francis satyr sits on a blade of grass.
Image courtesy of Jenny McCarty.

tips, make the butterfly highly alluring to collectors (Recovery Plan).  Before being listed under the Endangered Species Act, collectors caught what was believed to be all of the remaining individuals (Cornell University). In 1992 however, the species was rediscovered at Fort Bragg (Cornell University).  Two years later, “the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pushed through an emergency rule … to give the species endangered status” (Cornell University). The rule gave the Fish and Wildlife Service time to research the Saint Francis satyr before officially listing it as endangered in 1994 (Recovery Plan).

One remaining population and a small habitat size are reasons the Saint Francis satyr is heavily endangered. The Fish and Wildlife Service’s recovery plan looks first to protect the current geographic range by keeping the butterfly’s exact locations classified as well as ensuring the habitat is being disturbed on a somewhat regular basis to prevent ecological succession from continuing for too long. The species long-term recovery will be accomplished through captive breeding as well as reintroduction into historic ranges. These historic ranges may be on military bases or private land, so the Fish and Wildlife Service will be working with the Department of Defense as well as private land owners (Recovery Plan).

As the species is not well known, there are no major foundations set up to protect the species. However, there are still things that can be done. One way people can help is to inform the Fish and Wildlife Service of any land you may know of that would be suitable for these butterflies. A second, much more simple way is to just stay out of the Fort Bragg artillery range – which is one of those things you should do anyways.

Works Cited

Cockman, Crystal. "The LandTrust for Central North Carolina." The LandTrust for Central North Carolina. N.p., 29 Aug. 2016. Web. 26 Nov. 2016.

Haddad, Nick. "Habitat Characteristics for St. Francis Satyr." Ecology and Conservation Biology in the Haddad Lab. North Carolina State University, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2016.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1996. Saint Francis’ Satyr Recovery Plan. 

            Atlanta, GA. 27 pp.

Vidler, Megan. "Neonympha Mitchellii Francisi, Saint Francis' Satyr Butterfly."                 Cornell University Insect Conservation Biology. Cornell University, 2006.             Web. 26 Nov. 2016.