Tales of three tigers: A 50-year career-shaping journey chasing swallowtail butterflies

Abstract

Having retired (in 2010) as professor emeritus at Michigan State University, Mark Scriber’s time is now spent on recollections of a research career in entomology, with a focus on swallowtail butterflies of the world. For this purpose, a lighthouse was constructed at his family’s lakeside home on Waikiki Street in Aloha, MI. Here, the study of historical and currently emerging aspects of the North American tiger swallowtail butterfly evolution could be continued in retirement. According to a local authority (Harold Fox, an 88-year-old neighbor, living in a nearby log cabin), all lighthouses need a name. The name that emerged was "Papa-Leo" (for Grandpa Mark and his birth sign, Leo), which in conjunction is pronounced "Papilio" (the genus of many swallowtail butterflies, including the North American tiger swallowtails). The 3-story, 36-ft high lighthouse was actually a compromise from Mark’s lifelong "dream tree house," largely because the emerald ash borer had just reached these Northern Michigan forests, and the 120-ft high ash trees in the yard were in serious jeopardy. This construction also put the foundation under his "Castle in the sky….".