Prepared by Judith Jones

The Aweme Borer (Papaipema aweme) is a moth in the owlet family (Noctuidae). It is listed as endangered under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act, 2007. It is listed as endangered on Schedule 1 of the federal Species at Risk Act. It has a conservation rank of G1S1 in Ontario. The adult has a wingspan of 33 to 37 mm, with light brown, distinctly-marked forewings and paler, plainer, yellow-white hind wings. The egg, larval, and pupal stages have never been observed.

Larvae in the genus Papaipema are borers, meaning they chew into fleshy plants and feed inside the roots, stems, or rhizomes. Many Papaipema moths are restricted to a single host plant species. Thus, the primary habitat need of the Aweme Borer is the presence of the correct host plants to feed and shelter the larvae. However, no larva of the Aweme Borer has ever been observed, and the identity of the host is not known. It is possible that Aweme Borer is a species associated with wetlands. Two recent collections are from peatland and bog habitats and a third is from a wet part of an old pasture. Locations of historical collections are not well known but could include fens and interdunal wetlands, which could have some plant species in common with peatlands and bogs.

The complete global range of the Aweme Borer is not known. The species has been collected only nine times ever at seven locations: Aweme, Manitoba (1905); Beaver Island, Michigan (1925); Rochester, New York (1932); Grand Bend, Ontario (1936); Manitoulin Island, Ontario (2005); McMillan, Michigan (2009); and Pine Creek, Minnesota (2014). Given the decades of collecting effort and the very small number of collections, it is possible the Aweme Borer has always been rare. However, it is also possible that this species is not very attracted to light and so is rarely trapped. A third possibility is that it occurs in areas that are not often studied, such as bogs.

The Aweme Borer may be limited by its restriction to a single host species. Suitable habitat may be limited if the host plant is restricted to a rare vegetation community. Specific threats to the Aweme Borer are not known, but threats to native, herbaceous plants, to moths and to wetlands in general, can be inferred. These may include browsing and grazing, changes in drainage, all-terrain vehicle use, shoreline development, and introduced parasites and pesticide use.

Very little is known about the Aweme Borer including whether any Canadian populations are extant. Nothing is known about population size, habitat requirements, habitat dynamics, or threats. Therefore, the recovery goal for the Aweme Borer is to attempt to fill knowledge gaps and to maintain existing vegetation at collection sites with broad measures until better information allows specific actions, such as threat mitigation, to be undertaken. Protection and recovery objectives include the following.

  1. Conduct research to fill knowledge gaps.
  2. Use stewardship actions to maintain existing vegetation.
  3. Create partnerships and share information with other jurisdictions.

Several approaches to recovery are presented in the text. Performance measures are presented so that if knowledge gaps cannot be filled, unsuccessful searches and other attempts to collect data may be tracked as work towards achieving the recovery objectives.

The most important habitat need for the Aweme Borer is the presence of the host plant. However, the identity of the host(s) for the Aweme Borer is not known. If the identity of the host plant becomes known, it is suggested that a habitat regulation be developed based on the presence of host plants and their biological requirements. As such, it is suggested that the area to be considered for a habitat regulation would probably need to include:

  1. the area where Aweme Borers (of any life stage) are found;
  2. from the locations in (1), all of the contiguous area where host plants are present;
  3. sufficient area for establishment, growth, and dispersal of host plants; and
  4. a consideration of any dynamics required to maintain habitat suitability for thehost plant. For example, if the host requires habitat maintained by fire, then it issuggested that the amount of area required for adequate burning may need to bedetermined and prescribed. If the host requires active dune processes, theninclusion of a dynamic area (even if not occupied by the Aweme Borer) may alsoneed to be considered.