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Saving swallowtail and birdwing butterflies

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You are here: Home / Homerus Swallowtail DNA Study

Homerus Swallowtail DNA Study

The Homerus Swallowtail, also known as the Homerus Swallowtail or Giant Jamaican Swallowtail, is the largest butterfly in the western hemisphere, and also one of the most endangered. Confined to two separate mountainous areas in Jamaica, Papilio homerus has been driven to its inaccessible hideouts by a combination of habitat loss from expanding agriculture and mining, and over-collecting. Protection in national law and on Appendix 1 of CITES has not been enough to secure the future of this magnificent butterfly.

Now, with the provision of a  grant raised by the Swallowtail and Birdwing Butterfly Trust, Dr Eric Garraway of the University of West Indies, together with a group of enthusiastic students and a volunteer cameraman, John Parnell, will spend their summer months carrying out some vital research. They have been licensed by the Jamaican government to collect living specimens from each of the two populations, take small samples from the hind wings for DNA analysis, and release them unharmed back to the wild.

Take a look at their work in the field by watching the video.

Why is DNA analysis needed? The two populations are geographically separated and, although they look similar, Dr Garraway and his team need to know for sure that they are the same species before developing further conservation plans. Captive breeding using specimens from both locations, for example, could be a disaster if the populations are in fact different, but much-needed if they are the same species in need of genetic flow.

The DNA analysis will be carried out at the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity in the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA, under the watchful eye of Dr Jaret Daniels, who has studied the Homerus Swallowtail for many years. His mentor was the late Thomas Emmel who, very sadly, passed away recently.

This project would not have been possible without the support of Darren and Gareth Howat, who have made a generous donation in memory of their much-loved uncle, Dr Ian Howat. Ian was a keen amateur lepidopterist. He spent many happy hours building a collection of butterflies and studying the Homerus swallowtail in Jamaica, where he spent a year practising at the University College Hospital of the West Indies, Kingston. Sadly, Ian died prematurely in an air accident in 1968 at the tender age of 33 years, while serving in the Flying Doctor Service in Lesotho, southern Africa.

Dr Ian Howat 1933-1968

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    Latest News

    Richard Bennett joins SBBT as Honorary Advisor on Captive Breeding

    20th July 2021

    Richard has bred butterflies for 55 years, starting in West Yorkshire and now in Watamu, Kenya. A zoologist trained at Oxford, for 30 years he has owned a butterfly farm supplying live exhibitions in USA and UK. His insight and knowledge of captive breeding will be key to the success of SBBT’s conservation projects.

    Richard Markham joins SBBT as Honorary Coordinator on the Natewa Swallowtail

    14th July 2021

    SBBT is delighted to welcome Richard as Honorary Coordinator for Natewa Swallowtail studies in Fiji, where he is closely involved with our project with NatureFiji Marequeti-Viti to conserve and breed Papilio natewa,  a very rare species discovered only in 2017. Richard is the Director of Kokomana Pte Ltd., a cocoa plantation and chocolate company based […]

    “Saving Swallowtails” Conference Now Available Online

    30th June 2021

    On 12 June 2021 SBBT held a very successful online videoconference on “Saving Swallowtails”. Fourteen presentations highlighted the most advanced swallowtail conservation projects in the world, ranging from Florida, Jamaica, Brazil and Kenya to the UK, Italy, Singapore, Australia, PNG and Fiji. These presentations are now freely available to download from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdB29sTt1KFJPc76X2PfEjg/playlists

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    OUR APPEAL

    Swallowtails and birdwings are beautiful and graceful butterflies – who wouldn’t love to see them dancing in the sunlight or sipping nectar from wildflowers? But many species are under threat from agriculture, forestry and climate change. We have ideas, enthusiasm and a vision for the future. Will you help us to achieve our goals?

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    We do four things to help swallowtails and birdwings: we raise financial resources; convene networks and partnerships; catalyse action, and provide scientific and technical support.

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    Send an email to info@sbbt.org.uk, or post a letter to SBBT, c/o Hines Harvey Woods, Queens Head House, The Street, Acle, Norwich NR13 3DY, UK

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