MARCH 2023 FACT SHEET
© James Bailey some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)
THE IOWA SKIPPER: MORE THAN JUST A BUTTERFLY
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Figure 1. Map of Iowa skipper’s nationwide range.
Unfortunately, just like the American prairie habitat, the Iowa skipper’s population is rapidly declining. The Iowa skipper’s survival continues to be threatened by the destruction, fragmentation, and modification of its remaining habitat, as well as by pesticides, climate change, invasive species, and the additive and synergistic effects of these threats. The skipper is no longer common or secure in any state and the species may have already disappeared from Iowa and Minnesota, where it has not been seen since 2009. NatureServe, a nonprofit conservation organization which partners with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to rank rare and endangered species based on threats to their survival, ranked the Iowa skipper as Imperiled (T2), meaning it is “at high risk of extirpation in the jurisdiction due to restricted range, few populations or occurrences, steep declines, severe threats, or other factors.”4
But what is it that makes this little butterfly so important? The Iowa skipper is a prairie-specialist butterfly, making it an indicator of high-quality prairie habitat.2 In other words, the sighting of an Iowa skipper in an area points towards the existence of a biodiverse and flourishing prairie biome as well. As grasslands and prairies worldwide have been converted into agricultural land, they have become one of the most threatened biomes on the planet.3 About 99% of the U.S.’s 148 million acres of tallgrass prairie habitat has been destroyed since European settlement. Recent habitat losses stem from biofuel demand driven by federal policies that promote fuel made from corn, high crop prices, and government subsidies.
That’s why at Center for Food Safety, we’re petitioning the FWS to list the Iowa skipper as an endangered species. The Iowa skipper urgently needs the protections that Endangered Species Act listing will provide. Without these protections, the Iowa skipper will continue to decline and be at risk of extinction. We know this strategy will work. As a result of our work with partners on a petition and lawsuit, several species of bumblebees were protected as candidate species under the California Endangered Species Act, a first for invertebrates. Our petition and lawsuit, in partnership with the Center for Biological Diversity and the Xerces Society, also pushed the FWS to add the iconic Monarch butterfly to the candidate waiting list for the Endangered Species Act, where it is awaiting approval.
HE IOWA SKIPPER (scientific name Atrytone arogos iowa), may be found across the Great Plains and Midwest, spanning 14 states from eastern Montana to Illinois and south to Texas, where it is patchily distributed throughout prairies/grasslands.1
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