BUTTERFLY COMMUNITIES IN TWO PENNSYLVANIA NATIONAL PARKS

Abstract

Butterfly communities were inventoried at two national parks, Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site (ALPO) and Johnstown Flood National Memorial (JOFL), Pennsylvania, in 1998. Information on presence, abundance, and distribution of butterflies is important to National Park Service personnel, who are mandated to manage the biodiversity of natural resources. As large tracts of public lands, such as national parks, become more insular with increased habitat fragmentation, they will become increasingly valuable for the long-term maintenance of faunal diversity and the functional integrity of ecosystems in the eastern United States. Surveys were conducted monthly from late spring to early fall along two transects in ALPO and one in JOFL. Twenty-eight butterfly species were noted in the study. At ALPO, most species and individuals were found along open (non-wooded) sectors of the transects, including Phyciodes tharos (Drury) (Pearl Crescent), Boloria bellona (F.) (Meadow Fritillary), and Thymelicus lineola (Ochs.) (European Skipper). At JOFL, the most abundant butterfly was T. lineola. We observed 27 of 110 flowering plant species being used as nectar sources by butterflies on 200 occasions in both parks combined. At both parks, an effort should be made to develop mowed lawns into unmowed grasslands to increase their use by butterfly species by providing habitat for wildflowers (nectar sources).