Euphydryas editha (Edith’s Checkerspot Butterfly)
Credit: Zachary MacDonald
about the species
Edith’s Checkerspot (Euphydryas editha) is a particularly charismatic butterfly that occurs in colonies throughout much of southwestern North America, from southern British Columbia, Canada to northern Baja California, Mexico. Most E. editha populations are dependent on single species of host plants in their larval stage (e.g., Antirrhinum, Collinsia, Orthocarpus, and Plantago spp.). However, these host associations can evolve quickly; single populations can achieve complete host shifts in around 20 generations. This process of rapid adaptation has produced at least six distinct ecotypes of E. editha in California, each locally adapted to its host and habitat different ways. These habitats are unusually diverse for a single species, distributed from sea level to over 4,000 m elevation. Two Californian subspecies are federally endangered: E. e. bayensis, occurring in the Bay Area, and E. e. quino, occurring in Riverside/San Diego Counties and northern Baja California. Population declines over the past century have been linked to urban and agricultural development, competitive exclusion of host plants, increases in fire frequency, and a warming, drying climate.
why species was selected
The wide range of E. editha spans many of California’s ecosystems, making inferences of population structure and local adaptation particularly interesting. Additionally, the ecological and evolutionary distinctiveness E. e. bayensis and E. e. quino has not been evaluated using modern methods. To better inform conservation efforts, whole-genome sequence data, combined with landscape and environmental modelling, will also be used to assess how changes to habitat and climatic conditions are affecting habitat suitability and connectivity. Identifying local adaptation to ecological and environmental conditions will ensure that translocation and reintroduction efforts focus on extant populations that are most compatible. These research goals have been identified as key conservation needs by our U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) partners.
