Chapter 3 North Carolina Species
imperiled, many species identified for conservation concern are known from only a single population in the state; are associated with rare plants or unique natural communities; and are endemic or known only to occur in North Carolina. Some have highly disjunct populations separated from the rest of their range or the best-known populations occur in the state. In North Carolina, there are two federally listed insect species protected under the ESA: St. Francis’ Satyr butterfly (endangered) and Spruce-fir Moss Spider (endangered). The Monarch butterfly has been found to warrant listing for federal protection as a threatened species; the status is pending USFWS regulatory processes. Several at-risk species are under review by the USFWS for potential federal protection listing: Southern Plains Bumblebee, American Bumble Bee, Variable Cuckoo Bumble Bee, Frosted Elfin Butterfly, Regal Fritillary, Appalachian Grizzled Skipper, Cherokee Clubtail, Septima’s Clubtail, Margarita River Skimmer, Edmund’s Snaketail, Smokies Needlefly, and Blueridge Springfly (USFWS 2025a) . These at-risk species represent pollinators and species with an aquatic life phase dependent on freshwater systems. • Data from the website www.DiscoverLife.org (Ascher et al. 2009) indicate that there are more than 3,500 bee species in six taxonomic families in the United States. NatureServe Explorer (2025) shows there are 519 bee species with a distribution that includes North Carolina. There are numerous species that are of high conservation concern because they have experienced alarming population declines, especially within the past 20 years. In some cases, local extirpations may explain their absence from parts of their native range. For example, if the long-term declining trend for relative abundance of the Southern Plains Bumble Bee continues, this species could potentially go extinct before the end of this century (Hatfield et al. 2012) . • In 2013, a petition was submitted to request that the Rusty patched Bumble Bee be listed as an Endangered Species under the ESA. Another species, the Variable Cuckoo Bumble Bee is considered to be critically endangered because the population has declined by more than 80% overall based on historic records, while more current survey data show declines in relative abundance of more than 99% during the past decade (Hatfield et al. 2014) . Declines are at least in part due to pathogen infection, habitat alterations and conversion, declines in habitat quality, and exposure to certain types of insecticides and other environmental chemicals. • The St. Francis’ Satyr butterfly is only known from Cumberland and Hoke counties in the Sandhills ecoregion. The larval host of the St. Francis’ Satyr Butterfly is sedges ( Carex spp.) (Murdock 1996) . This butterfly is known to inhabit wide, wet meadows dominated by sedges and other wetland graminoid species. These wetlands are often acidic and ephemeral boggy areas that are relicts of beaver activity. These sites must be continually maintained to prevent woody vegetation from becoming established.
2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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