Rare butterfly species rediscovered in Maine

November 26, 2009|Clarke Canfield, Associated Press

PORTLAND, Maine - A species of butterfly has been rediscovered in Maine 75 years after it was last reported seen in the state.

The Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department set out last summer to confirm whether the spicebush swallowtail lived in Maine. Maine is at the northern end of the butterfly’s range, and the only documented Maine sighting was in 1934, said Phillip deMaynadier, a biologist.

The effort paid off in September when deMaynadier found several occupied swallowtail nests in hardwood swamps in Berwick and Wells. The finding proves that the butterfly breeds in Maine, he said.

“This is now officially one of the largest, most colorful butterflies in the state, and somehow it slipped under our radar screen for the past 75 years,’’ said deMaynadier.

About 120 butterfly species are native to Maine, but biologists have long wondered about the spicebush swallowtail. The butterfly, which is black with white and orange spots, lives in the Eastern United States from northern New England to Florida. The species is widely distributed to the south of New England.

To verify the butterfly’s status in the state, deMaynadier and a zoologist trudged through the forests and swamps of southern Maine in July in search of cocoons, but without luck. On a return visit in September, deMaynadier came across several spicebush swallowtail caterpillars.

Sightings of the spicebush swallowtail are also rare in neighboring New Hampshire, deMaynadier said.

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