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Posted by Vince on 12:39:54 07/12/04
In Reply to: An unusual event: Atala attack posted by Paul
: Since the summer is slow let me relate an unusual event we are experiencing at Hoechoka Hammock. About 5 weeks past we began to see daily a very unusual blue butterfly that had blue spots on dark black/blue wings and a very orange abdomen. They were slow flyers, quite easy to approach (within 3 inches). These little guys have never been seen before in our area. Now they are everywhere. It turns out that they are Atala hairstreak Eumaeus atala. The history seems to be that Roger Hammer has some responsibility for releasing these bugs into Broward. (Good show Roger!) They were considered to be extinct for several decades but have made a slow recovery. They feed on Coontie, Zamia floridana. And that is the truth. The Hammock is virtually denuded of coontie thanks to these bugs.
:
: So if your life is incomplete without seeing an Atala hairstreak, come on up, you can see them by the hundreds...maybe take some back home with you.
I would caution about introducing this butterfly into areas from which it does not occur naturally. We have enough exotics in Florida already. An attempt to introduce this butterfly into Lee County by the Calusa Nature Center was thwarted at the last minute by knowledgable lepidopterists who convinced the Nature Center to rethink their decision. I was around in the late 70's/early 80's when this butterfly was thought to be extinct from Florida. A friend's relative from Ohio who was vacationing in South Florida rediscovered a small colony at Bill Bagg's I believe (my memory fails me). Anyway, soon afterward, many knowledgeable lepidopterists specializing in the family Lycaenidae raised the larvae on coontie and then helped to bring this insect back from the verge of extinction. It's a great success story.
Vince Lucas
Naples
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