We’ve previously had posts about green anoles, Anolis carolinensis, introduced to the Ogasawara Islands, and the efforts to eradicate them. Now a report has implicated the anoles in the possible extinction of a butterfly species. Here’s an article from the japan times:
Blue Japanese butterfly endemic to Ogasawara Islands feared extinct
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A small blue butterfly known as Celastrina ogasawaraensis may be the first butterfly species native to Japan to go extinct. | TOKYO ZOOLOGICAL PARK SOCIETY / VIA KYODO
The Environment Ministry said Thursday that a species of small butterfly endemic to Japan’s southern islands is feared to have gone extinct because all artificially bred butterflies and worms of its type have died.
In the butterfly’s natural habitats, in the Ogasawara Islands some 1,000 km south of Tokyo, no individuals from the species have been confirmed since 2018, the ministry said.
Unless the blue butterfly measuring just over 1 cm long is found in the wild, it will be the first butterfly species native to Japan to go extinct.
The ministry believes that a decline in the butterfly population is at least partially attributable to foreign lizards on the remote islands.
Efforts to preserve the species, known as Celastrina ogasawaraensis, had been under way since 2005 by Tama Zoological Park in western Tokyo and also at a facility in Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden in the capital since last October.
But all of the butterflies and worms raised at these facilities died in July and earlier this month, the ministry said, adding that repeated inbreeding might have led to an accumulation of hazardous genes, ultimately causing death.
The small butterfly is currently categorized as endangered on the Environment Ministry’s Red List. The ministry is expected to decide whether the species should now be listed as extinct.
The Ogasawara Islands are known as the Galapagos Islands of Asia due to their unique flora and fauna after eons of separation from any continent.
While the remote islands are growing popular as a tourist spot for beautiful subtropical scenery and whale watching, limited access via a 24-hour ship voyage available only once once per week helps to preserve the wildlife and natural ecosystems.
The volcanic islands, now administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, belonged to the United States after World War II before being returned to Japan in 1968.
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Rick Wallach
It sounds to me more like a genetic problem as far as the breeding program but it also seems odd that this species can’t be maintained in the wild or in the lab. I assume the breeders used by the program originally came from the wild too, and if they died out in the wild, they couldn’t maintain themselves in the lab either. Before I’d blame the anoles, I’d look at the possibility of a virus or parasite or chemical pollution, or some other forms of environmental degradation including climate change.
June Griggs
Due to the Coronavirus I watch the Anoles at night that collect on the outside of a window to eat insects attracted by an inside hanging light. My favorite I have named “Stumpy” because, he is growing a new tail. Stumpy’s growing new tail is about an inch long. I am entertained by their athletic abilities and ability to catch insects flying close as also, on the outside of the window. I loved reading the regeneration process in regrowing tails may someday help humans in muscle regeneration after an injury. Since I am watching inside my view is of the Anole’s underside, {Not as pretty as the top side.}
Ta-tea-two-te-to
Hi, I’m the one who emailed you about this. Thank you for making this news an article.
There are various causes of the extinction of this butterfly, but the effect of green anole seems to be great.
They are vulnerable to brown anole threat in their habitat, but native species are weak on Ogasawara Island, which has been isolated for a long time, and any alien species has a great adverse effect.
Except for green anole, there are droughts and typhoons, exotic plants Bischofia javanica, and poaching.
James Duquesnel, Flora & Fauna of the Keys Instructor
Watching similar behavior in Key Largo led me to pay more attention to turning off lights (even more than saving energy) that I am not using or can do without. I believe anoles’ inclination to remain active after dark near artificial light sources, so they can pick-off the insects attracted, has contributed measurably to the decline of both native anoles and native moths and butterflies. The anoles and at least the larger moths (especially Sphinx moths) drawn to porch lights and light-leaking windows now fall prey to the introduced Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko). Until about ten years ago, finding a Sphinx moth on a window screen or on the wall by a porch light was a routine occurrence, but I have not seen one on our home’s exterior in at least several years. Annually, I remove at least a half-dozen geckos measuring from two or three inches (new hatchlings) to sixteen inches (adult males). They spend daylight hours sheltering behind storm shutters, and in other crevices in our carport. Each exterior light on our home, and the stairs that lead into our yard, also seems to have its own resident Indonesian House Gecko (Hemidactylus mabouia), an edificarian species that appears to be very good at avoiding becoming food for their much larger cousin.