Xerces Blue
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| Glaucopsyche xerces (Boisduval, 1852) |
The Xerces Blue butterfly (Glaucopsyche xerces) is an extinct species of butterfly. The species lived in coastal sand dunes of the Sunset District of San Francisco. The Xerces butterfly is believed to be the first American butterfly species to become extinct as a result of loss of habitat caused by urban development. The last Xerces Blue was seen in either 1941 (Garth, J.S. and J.W. Tilden, California Butterflies, UC Press 1986) or 1943 (Powell, J.A. and C.L. Hogue, California Insects, UC Press, 1979) on lands that may now be part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
The species was first described and documented in 1852. It was characterized by blue wings with white spots. The butterfly's food plants belonged to the genera Lotus and Lupinus. Xerces probably associated with ants in its larval stages as part of a symbiotic relationship. One of the theories regarding the extinction of the species is that with human settlement in the Bay area, new species of ant were introduced which slowly replaced the existing ant species within the butterfly's habitat.
Efforts are on to resurrect the Xerces Blue. The Palos Verdes Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis) which is considered a Los Angeles cousin of the Xerces, is being reared in labs. A new Xerces-like subspecies of the Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus) has been discovered as well.
An endangered invertebrate conservation group known as the Xerces Society is named after the Xerces Blue species. The Xerces name derives from the French spelling of Xerxes, the name of two Persian kings of the fifth century BC.
Xerces is also a group of XML software packages named after this butterfly.
[edit] References
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1996). Glaucopsyche xerces. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006.
