In July, the Dakota skipper butterfly crawls up bunchgrass and flutters about the coneflowers blooming across North Dakota's rolling plains.
While it slurps up nectar, surveyors working with energy companies and conservation groups scour the hills — carefully — to document the skipper, which is considered threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
The Dakota skipper can be seen flying about the prairie for just two to three weeks in the early summer, during which time it mates and the females lay eggs before they die.
"It's a very limited amount of time to get to know this species," surveyor Luke Toso said.
Research and recovery efforts for the butterfly are gaining momentum in North Dakota, the primary place the species calls home. Its range once extended as far east as Iowa and Illinois, but habitat loss has depleted the species' population over the past few decades. It is now limited t to the prairies of North Dakota, Minnesota and other neighboring states and Canadian provinces.
"It's only on very pristine, native prairie," said Elisha Mueller, a conservation biologist with North Dakota Game and Fish. "It needs a very specific ingredient list."
Scientists are still trying to pinpoint how to best help the butterfly. At top of mind is whether they can plant the right combination of grasses and flowers to attract the skipper to sites that are not native prairie.
Last year, a team found the skipper flying across crested wheatgrass, which is not native prairie.
