ARKANSAS, USA — After realizing that Northwest Arkansas hadn't seen the state butterfly in decades, the Diana Project was formed to save the Diana Fritillary.
Curtis Leister leads tours at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks. He says many are always interested in the butterflies, but one visitor earlier this year sparked a question.
"Someone asked, 'What's the state butterfly of Arkansas?' And I didn't know I looked it up," Curtis said. "I found that we don't have it here."
In 2007 the Arkansas General Assembly used Act 156 to designate the Diana Fritillary as the state butterfly.
"This is the natural state, you know, how could we lose our own butterfly?" Northwest Arkansas Master Naturalist Shawn Hunter said.
Hunter joined the search for the Diana Fritillary after Leister visited a Naturalist meeting, making others aware of the Diana Project.
At the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, Leister says they gather native butterflies from the area for their butterfly house. When looking for a reason as to why they didn't have the state's butterfly, Hunter found that the Diana hadn't been recorded in Northwest Arkansas since the 80s and 90s.
"It's at a moderate to high risk of extinction here," Hunter said.
The project has been invited to Hot Springs National Park to establish a Diana Patch. They're also working with several environmental education-focused schools in the state to develop curriculums that revolve around and support the Diana project, such as Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping of historical locations.
Why is the Diana disappearing?
The reason why the Diana Fritillary is disappearing is in the way their offsprings grow, Leister explained.
"She lays her eggs in leaves and twigs in the fall. And then when the eggs hatch, a little baby category comes out, nestles those leaves all winter long. And then when springtime comes, the caterpillar times out and eats only the leaves of native violets," said Leister.
Hunter also explained that their previous Prairie habitats in Northwest Arkansas have changed. Being stuck in one place has also made their genetics weak she added.
Their immediate solution is to create Diana Patches or a small pile of leaves and twigs near a native violet. They also ask people to look for the Diana so that more research can be done on current populations.
How can I help?
"You either leave your leaves, which doesn't cost anything, don't spray pesticide which doesn't cost anything or join the social media and participate with photos on iNaturalist," said Hunter.
With their project, Hunter says they finally found a Diana in Northwest Arkansas. The first picture of a Diana Fritillary was captured by Lisa Taylor in Elm Springs. Taylor joined the project's Facebook group and teaches fifth graders about butterfly gardens. Her discovery is only the first step in the Diana Project.
If you'd like to join the Diana Project's cause or find out more about the Diana Fritillary, visit their website.
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