In light of the slowly disappearing pipevine swallowtail butterfly population in San Mateo, the Biotech Independent Studies class has started a butterfly garden on the north side of the North Gym to help repopulate the species in niches where the population has declined. The California pipeline swallowtail butterfly is a species endemic to this area, but has had many of its natural habitats destroyed due to the rising popularity of landscaping that doesn’t favor native California plants like pipevine.
Students began propagating the pipevine plants at Aragon, so that they would be able to recruit pipevine butterflies into the area.
“If we plant more pipevine, we’re hoping that we see more caterpillars, and then more swallowtails,” said biology teacher Katie Ward, who is leading the project.
The Independent Studies class worked with a former graduate of Aragon, Tim Wong, who is a biologist at the California Academy of Sciences.
“He does all the animal husbandry at the Cal Academy of Sciences, raising animals and restocking reef tanks,” Ward said. “His interests are insects and invertebrates. He raised butterflies at Aragon when he took AP Bio … and got interested in the swallowtail.”
Wong’s interests led him to volunteer at the San Francisco Botanical Gardens and Academy of Sciences, where he asked if he could plant pipevine. While caring for the pipevine, he began to seed the garden with swallowtail eggs. Shortly after, pipevine butterflies started appearing in both the gardens and Academy of Science’s living roof.
“Don’t get me wrong, people have tried doing this before,” Ward said. “But no one really did the husbandry or raising of the pipevine well enough for the butterflies to establish themselves. It wasn’t that the butterflies weren’t surviving, it was that the swallowtail population couldn’t grow because there wasn’t enough pipevine.”
From pipevine cuttings, provided by both Wong and the San Francisco Botanical Garden, students created a reserve for the butterflies. The students researched the county’s native butterflies, and then researched the host and nectar plants of each butterfly to decide what other plants should be in the garden.
“I think a lot of people overlook the value that insects and plants have on the ecosystem. The garden is a culmination of our efforts at repopulating a native butterfly species that has suffered in this area due to a loss of habitat, but this project has taught me to appreciate the value plants and insects have on the environment, as well as how unique and strong they are.”
However, there were challenges in the process that the students needed to overcome.
“The main ones being the lack of published research on the California pipevine and the other native plants we were working with” said senior and Biotech Independent Studies student Kaitlin Araghi. “This meant we had to do a lot of our own research through trial and error and testing different methods for growing the plants.”
In addition to the lack of published research, another problem was the fact that all the students in the research group are seniors. To ensure the project will continue in future years, students created a system for future interested students. This involved using the app iNaturalist to make a project page about Aragon’s biodiversity, with an emphasis on the butterfly garden.
“There’s no one who can [stay and] continue the project next year,” said senior and Biotech Independent Studies student Haley Ogasawara, “so we’re trying to make informative signs and find other ways to use this garden as a learning environment in addition to providing a habitat for local butterflies.”
The garden serves as a reminder of the importance and unique qualities of nature.
“I think a lot of people overlook the value that insects and plants have on the ecosystem. The garden is a culmination of our efforts at repopulating a native butterfly species that has suffered in this area due to a loss of habitat,” Araghi said. “But this project has taught me to appreciate the value plants and insects have on the environment, as well as how unique and strong they are.”
Ward hopes to continue the project with her AP Biology and Advanced Biotech students, but it is unsure whether or not there will be an Advanced Biotech class next year due to low enrollment.
