Endangered Butterflies in Prison: Metamorphosis for All!

“My work in the butterfly lab brings me a sense of peace in a world full of chaos. I’m able to share with my friends and family that while in the midst of being in a correctional facility, I’m doing something that’s very impactful on a global scale.”

—Sarah, TCB technician

Background

Highly trained butterfly technicians at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, OR, are busy preparing for the arrival of female butterflies for a captive rearing program designed to save a federally endangered butterfly from extinction. Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly, found only in two locations in the state, is being raised in a laboratory inside the medium prison, the only women’s facility of its kind in Oregon. Just outside the lab, a large yard has been planted by another crew focused on growing food for developing larvae. Across the street, a separate crew grows violet leaves to feed the federally threatened Oregon Silverspot Butterfly larvae being raised at Oregon Zoo.

Help us keep these crews going! The work brings great meaning to the lives of incarcerated women who are helping these two imperiled butterflies.

The Institute for Applied Ecology provides support staff, supplies and materials to make this work possible. In addition, IAE provides training for crews and educational lessons related to the work at hand. However, currently the work is underfunded and in particular, needs gap funding (between grant cycles). We do receive some funds to cover our costs, but it isn’t near enough to stretch for the year-round need. Help us help support the crews at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility.

Your donation will help support IAE's ability to implement ecological education programs, including our Conservation in Prisons Program that enables these incarcerated women to participate in this meaningful project and enhance butterfly recovery across the Northwest.

What Butterflies are Endangered?

Taylor's Checkerspot Butterfly (TCB) and Oregon Silverspot Butterfly are federally endangered and threatened, respectively. Only TCB is raised by incarcerated crew at Coffee Creek, though plants to feed the larvae of both species are grown here.

Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterflies (TCB) are a small inland prairie species with a wingspan of two inches. Named for the black, white and orange checkered pattern on their wings, they were listed as endangered in 2013. Primarily, they are negatively impacted from loss of prairie habitat due to development and agriculture. Though their historic range was much bigger, today – TCB’s are only found in three areas in North America, including Denman Island in Canada, Fort Lewis and Pudget Sound of Washington and in prairies near Corvallis in Oregon.

How are the Butterflies Cared For?

TCB female butterflies arrive at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in May, brought by U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials. Crew members carefully receive the females and release them onto potted plaintain plants (Plantago lanceolata) that are surrounded by a net.

At the base of the plants, crew members put a small honey pot – there to feed the butterfly as she decides where to lay her eggs. Crews watch over the female daily, carefully removing any eggs that have been laid and placing them in separate containers, marked by the matriline - or the mother butterfly who laid the eggs. As eggs hatch into larvae, the larvae begin slowly eating plant material, harvested by the Plantago crew.

Because the original host plants (where eggs are laid and caterpillars feed) of Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterflies have declined in the wild, the butterfly now relies mostly on an alternative host plant, narrow-leaved plantain (Plantago lanceolata). The Plantago crew at CCCF tends a large yard that is filled with native pollinator plants and of course, plantain. Their efforts at keeping these plants healthy and harvesting very specific leaves are an integral part of the process of growing larvae that begin about the size of a hyphen (in 1st instar) growing to a larger caterpillar close to the length of a kidney bean (in 6th instar). On any given day during the growth phases, the Plantago crew receives an early morning order specifying the number and size of leaves that are needed by the developing larvae. Once received by the butterfly technicians, leaves are thoroughly cleaned and any pests or problem areas removed.

As the larvae grow, they go through several growth spurts, molting skin in between each stage called an instar. By sometime in July, they start to go into a resting stage called diapause. Here they remain, not moving much, not eating until sometime in February when they begin to wake up again. As weather and conditions allow, they eat and molt into another instar stage and ultimately, shed their exoskeleton and become pupae, the stage just before they metamorphose into butterflies. By April or May, they’re flying free again in search of mates to begin the process anew.

For the incarcerated crew members who make complete metamorphosis of the butterfly possible, they see themselves as fulfilling their primary mission of “helping to save the ecosystem, one butterfly at a time!”

The program was launched at Coffee Creek in 2017. Since then, with our USFWS partners, over 9,100 animals were released into native habit – helping to prevent the extinction of this interesting and integral insect. Without the incredible work done by these women (butterfly technicians, Plantago and Viola crews), two butterflies in the Pacific Northwest may not have persisted.

To some degree, the successful rearing of these pollinators who transition from caterpillars to butterflies is similar to the metamorphosis of women involved in the programs.

Their words tell the story best:

“This job during my incarceration has given me the ability to become a college student and have the hope to dream. It takes leadership, analyzing, and assisting this endangered species to survive and thrive. I am aware of the impact that we’ve had on their environment – the species is important to our ecosystem and for pollination. From the miraculous metamorphosis to their intricate wing patterns, this species should be important to all of our lives here on the planet. This job has been purposeful to make me a woman that is a sustainable environmental conservationist for these winged jewels. This job has enabled me to make connections with people that have had a positive impact on my life.”

—Melissa, TCB technician