BUTTER NUT (Juglans cinerea)
Unfortunately, butternut is one of Ontario’s endangered tree species having been severely impacted by the butternut canker, an introduced fungal disease that has no controls. The loss of a food plant often results in the loss of many of the insects that rely on that species. Luckily, in this case butternut trees and walnut trees are related and many of the 100 species of lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) found on butternut are observed feeding on both species. The Bride and Walnut Sphinx are good examples of this, but they are likely joined by Distinct Quaker, Sleeping Baileya, Sad Underwing, Three-spotted Sallow, and Datana integerrima and angusii moths.
Butternut canker, caused by fungus (Ophiognomonia clavigignenti-juglandacearu m), primarily targets butternut trees and appears as a wound in the tree bark. Recognizing the threat posed by Butternut canker, Canada included the protection of butternut trees under the Species at Risk Act in 2005, as the disease has led to the loss of up to 80% of the butternut population in Ontario*. *Natural Resources Canada. (n.d.). Butternut canker. Government of Canada. https://natural-resources.canada.ca/our-natural-resource s/forests/insects-disturbances/top-forest-insects-and-diseases-canada/butternut-canker/13375
