ENHS Nature Trails Oct. 97 Article 1

Natural History of Passion Vine Butterflies

This month's speaker, Carla Penz

Our speaker this month is Carla Penz, a versatile biologist who can make decisions at a moment's notice. That she is the speaker this month affirms that assessment. The ENHS had planned on a lecture by Forest Sciences Laboratory rivers specialist Jim Sedell but he was called on detail to Washington, D.C. Fortunately, the society has a diverse membership and a dedicated board. Our president, Nathan Tublitz, called up board member Phil DeVries and asked if he could help out in a pinch. Phil responded graciously, sure he could help--no problem! Why not ask his wife, Carla? Decisions at a moment's notice...

Carla grew up in Brazil. Such a fantasy land to so many of us! She fell in love with butterflies when she was a university undergraduate. She took a field course and her professor opened the doors to her passion (vine??--see the topic of the lecture). Carla worked on butterflies for eight years in a museum, the Museo Anchieta in Pôrto Alegre, in southern Brazil. This work included studies in butterfly ecology that led to her Master's degree in 1988. The following year she migrated to the U.S.A.

Carla continued her interest in butterflies at the University of Texas at Austin. She has studied mating behavior and the feeding behavior of adults. Her field work has carried her to in many areas of the New World tropics, including Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador. Her research focused on butterfly systematics, the term for study of the evolutionary underpinnings of classification. The research led to her earning her Ph.D. last year. The work continues...

One of her favorite groups of butterflies is the passion vine butterflies, the heliconids and their cousins. This is a special subfamily of butterflies, found only in the new world. The image of transparent wings with striking target patterns has captured the imagination of many a butterfly aficionado. It is a most photogenic group whose images appear in many natural history magazines and books that deal with the tropical forsts of the Americas. They approach the U.S. only in the southernmost portions of Texas.

Carla will use this group for the topic of her talk on Friday. The most common members of the heliconids may be rather well known. Most members of the society will remember seeing pictures of the more colorful species. In addition to these, Carla will introduce us to some of the less common members of the group.

When asked about the status of butterflies in Brazil, Carla said that conservation efforts were underway. There are some species threatened by habitat destruction. Forest preserves have been established to help maintain some of the habitats important to the endangered butterflies. The other threat to butterflies is overcollecting of the more showy species. There is no control over collecting.

Souvenirs made with butterfly wings are still being sold, though not in the same quantities as in the 60's and 70's. At the present most of the souvenir pieces in Brazil are made from wild-caught insects. Only recently has butterfly farming been established as a licensed practice. Butterfly farming has been going on for a long time in other parts of South and Central America. Most of the products of the Brazilian butterfly farms go to butterfly houses in the United States or to commercial interests outside the country.

The Eugene Natural History Society is very happy to have Carla Penz as a speaker this month. Her willingness to accept an engagement on such short notice is something we should all say "thank-you" for.

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