Doan, Danielle - Ooops!
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Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly Restoration Project Danielle Doan February 23, 2012 Period 7 Science 6 Long History The Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly was named after the first Lord Baltimore. The Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly became the state insect of Maryland since 1973. The population of the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly is decreasing because the development of the crop agriculture is decreasing or being destroyed. Life Cycle of Checkerspot Butterfly 1. The female Checkerspot lays her eggs on the white turtlehead during late July to early August. 2. Over a few weeks, the eggs will hatch into black and orange caterpillars. 3. The caterpillars will spin a web on the host and will feed on the white turtlehead to make itself big. 4. Over a period of time, they will molt and shed their skin several times before being their full size. 5. After the last molt, the pupa or chrysalis starts to form. 6. It depends on how long the organism wants to stay in the pupa, but after a few weeks the caterpillar turns into a butterfly and emerges out of the pupa. 7. Before taking off the female lays her eggs on the white turtlehead and fly off. Then the cycle starts all over again. Life Cycle 1. 2. 7. 6. 3. 5. 4. Biotic and Abiotic Factors The biotic factors within an ideal habitat for the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly are: White turtleheads Trees Beardtongue English plantains Other Baltimore Checkerspots(to mate) The abiotic factors within an ideal habitat for the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly are: Air Sunlight Water Temperature Soil Biotic and Abiotic Factors(cont.) Some of the native animals in the habitat are: Deer Livestock Some of the native plants in the habitat are: White turtlehead Beardtongue English plantains Predator/Prey Relationship The Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly eats: White turtlehead Beardtongue English plantains Milkweed Ash plants Honeysuckle Wild roses The animals that eats the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly are: Deer(they eat the white turtlehead where the eggs are without knowing) Snakes Toads Birds Food Web Structural and Behavioral Adaptations Some of the behavioral adaptations are: They stay in the south from May to June. They stay in the north from June to August. They feed on white turtlehead They live in wetlands and meadows. Some of the structural adaptations are : They have orange and black spots on its wings to keep from being noticed by predators. The natural selection affect the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly by giving it a structural adaptation that helps it blend in with its surrounding. Montgomery County Park The Little Bennett Regional Park would be the best to build a habitat for the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly. This park would be well suited for the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly because the other parks don’t have much open area, meadows and streams for the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly to live. The location of the Little Bennett Regional Park is in Clarksburg, Maryland where the developers of a Clarksburg (Montgomery County), MD site to cede the small wetland and a band of surrounding slope to the National Capital Park, also to help fund a deer-exclusion fence. Habitat Design The supplies that are needed for a successful Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly garden are: New England Aster Summersweet Butterfly Bush Yarrow Gardening tools such as pruners, shovels, lopper, rake, gloves, etc. The cost of the supplies would be around $200 to $400. Environmental Impact Pros • Open space for the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly to live • Help increase the population of the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly • Help the environment be green • The plants will give more oxygen to breathe Cons • Too much time • Might destroy other organisms home • Takes up space for other public services Conclusion What I learned from this project is that the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly is endangered and we all need to be aware of that. The more people involved the more chances we can be able to help save the endangered Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly. I believe that with teamwork anything can happen. I can help increase the population of the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly is by having a school garden in our school to help save the population. All of the students who would like to participate in this project may help. That means we are now a green school but it doesn’t mean we cant be greener. If everyone pitches in we can save the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly. References/Cited Work General Information http://americanpestmanagement.com/baltimore-checkerspot-butterfly-state-insect/ http://www.fairhillnature.org/BaltCkspotFactSheet.pdf http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/symbols/insect.html http://chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/summer2001/checkerspot.html http://zipcodezoo.com/Animals/E/Euphydryas_phaeton/ http://www.massaudubon.org/butterflyatlas/index.php?id=78 http://www.ohiodnr.com/Home/species_a_to_z/SpeciesGuideIndex/baltimorecheckerspot/ta bid/6543/Default.aspx Montgomery County Park http://www.montgomeryparks.org/facilities/regional_parks/little_bennett/index.shtm Habitat Information http://www.nps.gov/keaq/forteachers/habitat-needs-of-wetland-species.htm http://fairfaxmastergardeners.org/knwldgb/Gardening%20Articles/Turtlehead.pdf Habitat Construction http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/HomePageView?storeId=10051&cat alogId=10053&langId=1&orig_ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch%3Fhl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive %26q%3Dhome%2Bdepot%26aq%3Df%26oq%3D%26aqi%3Dg1g-s1g8 Picture Cited Work http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/symbols/insect.html/ http://www.chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/summer2008/itw_butterfly.html/ http://www.gardening-at-the-crossroads.com/sunlight.html/ http://botany.thismia.com/2009/10/01/baltimore-checkerspot/ http://www.sos.state.md.us/Services/MdFlag.aspx/ http://gtapestry.blogspot.com/2007/06/my-favorite-butterfly.html/ http://ecobirder.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html/ (picture of black swallowtail caterpillar shedding skin not the actual Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly caterpillar) http://melissakoski.wordpress.com/tag/butterflies/ (picture of monarch butterfly emerging out of pupa not actual Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly) http://ucsantacruz.ucnrs.org/?page_id=1846/ http://www.picturesof.net/pages/090320-185281-854052.html/ (clip art of frog) http://www.flickr.com/photos/etacar11/732025737/ (picture of a butterfly in the Little Bennett Regional Park) http://www.dctriclub.org/forum/messages.cfm?tid=9170BD24-A133-EC009D112E497DFB03C4&page=1&#6/ (picture of geographic map of Little Bennett Regional Park)
