El Segundo blue

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El Segundo blue
El Segundo blue butterfly (Euphilotes battoides allyni) (17135925448).jpg
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Euphilotes
Species:
E. battoides
Subspecies:
E. b. allyni
Trinomial name
Euphilotes battoides allyni
O. Shields, 1975

The El Segundo blue (Euphilotes battoides allyni) is a rare subspecies of the square-spotted blue butterfly. It is endemic to a small dune ecosystem in Southern California that used to be a community called Palisades del Rey, close to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).[1] In 1976 it became a federally designated endangered species.[2] This butterfly’s habitat has been substantially reduced due to urban development and invasive plants, and it now exists as a handful of populations restricted to coastal dunes in the vicinity of Los Angeles.[3]

The El Segundo Blue Butterfly Habitat Preserve next to LAX exists to protect the subspecies. Until 2013, there are only three colonies of this tiny butterfly still in existence. The largest of these is on the grounds of LAX; a further colony exists on a site within the huge Chevron El Segundo oil refinery complex,[4] and the smallest colony is an area of only a few square yards on a local beach. In 2013, the El Segundo blue was discovered living and breeding in the Ballona Wetlands,[5] and its range now extends south to the Palos Verdes Peninsula and some have been located in Santa Barbara County.[6] The butterfly lays its eggs on coast buckwheat, which the adults also use as a nectar source. Recently, some nearby beach cities such as Redondo Beach have replaced ice plant growth near the beaches with coast buckwheat, in order to provide the butterflies with more of their natural food source.

Population

There are about 750,000 El Segundo Blues per year.

2011
 
 111,5
2013
 
 43,4
2015
 
 24,5
Population of the El Segundo Blue per year[7]
(minimum count in 1000 individuals)

See also

References

  1. ^ Ohanesian, Liz (July 15, 2021). "This Tiny, Blue Butterfly Is in Trouble. Local Conservationists Are Fighting to Change That". Los Angeles Magazine.
  2. ^ Traci Watson:Rare Butterflies Flying High at Los Angeles Airport, National Geographic, 21 April 2016
  3. ^ Dupuis, Julian (2020). "Genomics Confirms Surprising Ecological Divergence and Isolation in an Endangered Butterfly". Biodiversity and Conservation. 29 (6): 1897–1921. doi:10.1007/s10531-020-01950-6. S2CID 211127725. Retrieved October 16, 2020.
  4. ^ "What We Do". Chevron. Chevron. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  5. ^ "Endangered Blue Butterflies Expand in Ballona Wetlands". Patch. Patch. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  6. ^ "El Segundo blue butterfly". U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  7. ^ El Segundo Blue Butterfly Counts. LAX Natural Resources Management, retrieved 10 August 2017

Further reading

  • Mattoni, Rudolf H. T., "The Endangered El Segundo Blue Butterfly," The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera, Volume 29 (4), Winter 1990. PDF 19.5 MB (archive.org)Error: "Q5352140" is not a valid Wikidata entity ID.


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