Fire-dependent-ecosystem
Guides
Cicindelidia highlandensis
Highlands Tiger Beetle
Cicindelidia highlandensis is one of Florida's rarest endemic tiger beetles, restricted to remnant sand scrub and pine woodland habitats on the Lake Wales Ridge in central Florida. The species has experienced severe population declines due to habitat loss, with an estimated 90% reduction and only a few sites capable of sustaining viable populations. Adults are active during summer months, displaying characteristic thermoregulatory "stilting" behavior and extreme wariness when approached. Despite its critically imperiled global status (G1), it remains unlisted by the State of Florida.
Eumaeus atala
Atala, Atala butterfly, Atala hairstreak, coontie hairstreak
The Atala butterfly is a small, colorful lycaenid butterfly unique within its range for its aposematic coloration and exclusive association with cycad host plants. Once considered the most conspicuous insect in South Florida in 1888, it was believed extinct by the 1950s due to overharvesting of its sole native host plant, coontie (Zamia integrifolia), for starch production. Rediscovered in 1979 on a Miami barrier island, the species has recovered dramatically through conservation efforts and the popularity of coontie as an ornamental landscape plant, becoming common enough in southeast Florida to occasionally be regarded as a pest. The butterfly sequesters toxic cycasin compounds from its host, rendering all life stages unpalatable to predators.
butterflyhairstreakLycaenidaecycadcoontieZamiaaposematic-colorationchemical-defenseconservationendangered-species-recoveryFlorida-endemicpine-rocklandhost-plant-specialistsequestrationurban-wildlifeornamental-pestfreeze-dried-dietex-situ-conservationreintroductionfire-dependent-ecosystemnative-plant-landscapingcycasin-toxicitymultivoltineterritorial-malescorematasound-producing-pupaeStrymon acis
Bartram's scrub-hairstreak, Caribbean Scrub-Hairstreak
Strymon acis is a small lycaenid butterfly with a wingspan of 22–29 mm, occurring in southern Florida and the West Indies. The subspecies S. a. bartrami, restricted to southern Florida, is federally listed as Endangered under the United States Endangered Species Act. The species is tightly associated with pine rockland habitats and depends on Croton linearis as its larval host plant.