Study findings recently suggested a new butterfly species introduced in Canada is possible to become widespread in the country.
A Phys.org report said, this summer if one sees a butterfly that has wings with blue color on top and spots of orange color underneath, they may have crossed paths with a Polyommatus Icarus or a male European Common Blue, the new species.
As suggested in the study, the new find is not an accidental discovery. This was according to a research team from the University of Ottawa that has taken a close look at this attractive blue creature. They are actually the first researchers to study the new species' ecology.
According to Stephen Rivest, a uOttawa PhD student study, the study findings suggest that the Polyommatus Icarus or P. Icarus could become widespread in the future as it prefers urban sites.
Could Become Universal Across Canada
Rivest, the first author of the study, "Anthropogenic disturbance promotes the abundance of a newly introduced butterfly, the European common blue (Polyommatus Icarus; Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), in Canada", published in the Canadian Journal of Zoology added, the new butterfly species can reach extremely high densities and its caterpillars rely on a host plant that is universal across Canada.
Typically found in Europe, P. Icarus was initially discovered in 2005, near Montreal, Quebec. Its production provided the team of Rivest with an unusual opportunity to examine a non-native insect during its colonization's early stages and gain further understandings into an invasion's progression.
The first author also said, the rate that plant and animal species are being introduced outside their home ranges is rising worldwide, although only a few of these species will become invasive. Meaning, they are widespread, abundant, and have adverse impacts on environmental communities.
This is the reason, he added, "it is important for the newly introduced species" to be examined like they did so that they can understand further and forecast which introduced species are possible to become invasive.
P. Icarus on the Rise
Describing their results, Rivest said they found that P. Icarus is most abundant in urban sites and where its preferred caterpillar food plant, Lotus corniculatus or Birds Foot Trefoil is discovered.
Birds Foot Trefoil, according to Minnesota Wildflowers, is a whorl of three to eight bright yellow flowers at a long, naked stalk's tip that arises from leaf axils along branching stems.
This plant, he explained, was introduced in the mid-1700s to North America and now exists in every province of Canada.
Their study, he added, also presents that P. Icarus can achieve very high densities relative to native butterflies and that it is a low-moderate disperser, that is, "adults are not great fliers."
The new butterfly species may not be a winner in flying contests, the first author explained, adding although it could still become widespread in Canada.
In 2017, when the researchers started with the research, the European Common Blue existed in southwestern Quebec. That is where Rivest's team conducted their field investigations.
Over 4,600 Individuals Finding Their Way Outside of Quebec
A similar Mirage News said, the team gathered information on butterfly communities and their habitat in various sites, and later gauged the P. Icarus adults' ability to fly.
For the researchers to do that, they marked as many individuals of the said butterfly species as possible, using a permanent marker.
Each of the species was given a unique marking on its wing so that, if ever recaptured, they could measure the distance they flew, explained Rivest.
As a result, the researchers were able to capture and mark an astonishing number of individual species, 4,629 to be exact. Now, these butterflies have found their way outside of Quebec.
Related information about P. Icarus is shown on Filming Varwild's YouTube video below:
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