Bog Copper (image credit: D. Gordon E. Robertson)
In some northeastern wetlands, tiny brown butterflies called Bog Coppers feed on wild cranberry flowers. Their habitat requirements are very specific:
“You not only need a bog, but you need the host plant, which is cranberry. They rarely move more than just a few meters away from their host plant,” says naturalist Jerry McWilliams. He says that Bog Coppers are not threatened globally, but they’re imperiled in his home state of Pennsylvania.
“We only have two colonies that are known in western Pennsylvania.”
So protecting their habitat is critical – and it can help other wetland butterflies, too.
“These are beautiful things and they’re so important for pollinating. They’re so important just for the pleasure of life to be able to see them flying around,” says McWilliams.
Hear Jerry McWilliams discuss how the public can help support wetland butterflies:
Get Schooled:
- Read more about the bog copper from the USDA.
- Learn more about wetland butterfly species at risk from the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.
The fine print:
- This segment was produced in partnership with Cornell University’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future and made possible by the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds.
Butterflies and bogs
