Search for Cryptic Butterfly Diversity in the PNW — by Merrill Peterson

Butterfly diversity has been better catalogued than for other insect groups, but new species continue to be discovered even in such well-studied regions as North America. Many of these discoveries have been of “cryptic species” that look nearly identical but use different host plants and/or fly at different times of the year. Dr. Peterson will discuss recent work examining whether the Pacific Northwest harbors cryptic species of dotted blue butterflies in the genus Euphilotes, as has been shown in other parts of western North America in recent decades. The research he will describe combines old-school fieldwork with high-tech analyses such as electron microscopy, microCT scanning, spectroscopy, and genomics. Learn about these fascinating butterflies in intricate detail and get a behind-the-scenes look at the detective work involved in searching for cryptic species!

Merrill Peterson, author of Pacific Northwest Insects (Seattle Audubon Society, 2018) has been a member of Scarabs since its second iteration began in 1979. After earning his BS in Zoology (UW) and a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (Cornell University), he joined the Biology Department at Western Washington University in 1997, where he is a professor, curates the WWU Insect Collection, and manages the Pacific Northwest Moths website.

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