Where does one find Baltimore Checkerspots? Cape Cod, of course!

Ries Lab members in Cape Cod

Members of the Ries Lab are in Massachusetts to refresh our stock of Baltimore Checkerspots. This species, once common in the region, is now so rare in Maryland that it is considered imperiled statewide. One of the reasons these butterflies are doing so much better in Massachusetts is that some of the populations there have switched from using turtlehead (Chelone glabra) as a larval host to the much more common narrowleaf plantain (Plantago lanceolata).