El Segundo blue

{{Speciesbox

| name = El Segundo blue

| image = El Segundo blue butterfly (Euphilotes battoides allyni) (17135925448).jpg

| status = G1

| status_system = TNC

| status_ref = {{cite web | url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.107732/Euphilotes_allyni | title=NatureServe Explorer 2.0 }}

| status2 = LE

| status2_system = ESA

| genus = Euphilotes

| species = allyni

| authority = O. Shields, 1975

| synonyms = *Shijimiaeoides battoides allyni

Euphilotes bernardino allyni
Euphilotes battoides allyni

}}

The El Segundo blue (Euphilotes allyni) is an endangered species of 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).{{r|LAM 2021-07-15}}

Taxonomy

It was originally thought to be a subspecies of the square-spotted blue (E. battoides) or the Bernardino blue (E. bernardino), but recent authorities consider it its own species.Davenport, K. 2018. Lepidoptera of North America 15. Butterflies of southern California in 2018: updating Emmel and Emmel's 1973 Butterflies of southern California. Contributions of the C.P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado. 175 pp.Rubinoff, D., T. Longcore, J.R. Dupuis, and K.H. Osborne. 2021. Genomic data support the elevation of the federally listed El Segundo Blue (Euphilotes bernardino/battoides allyni) to species status. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 75(2): 161-164.

Conservation

In 1976 it became a federally designated endangered species.Traci Watson:[https://web.archive.org/web/20160423143206/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160421-butterflies-endangered-species-animals/ Rare Butterflies Flying High at Los Angeles Airport], National Geographic, 21 April 2016 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.{{Cite journal|last=Dupuis|first=Julian|title=Genomics Confirms Surprising Ecological Divergence and Isolation in an Endangered Butterfly|journal=Biodiversity and Conservation|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10531-020-01950-6|access-date=October 16, 2020|year=2020|volume=29|issue=6|pages=1897–1921|doi=10.1007/s10531-020-01950-6|bibcode=2020BiCon..29.1897D |s2cid=211127725|url-access=subscription}}

Distribution and habitat

The El Segundo Blue Butterfly Habitat Preserve next to LAX exists to protect the subspecies. Until 2013, there were 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,{{cite web|title=What We Do|url=http://elsegundo.chevron.com/abouttherefinery/whatwedo/default.aspx|website=Chevron|access-date=2016-05-11}} 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,{{cite web|title=Endangered Blue Butterflies Expand in Ballona Wetlands|url=https://patch.com/california/marinadelrey/endangered-blue-butterflies-expand-ballona-wetlands|website=Patch|date=July 25, 2020 |access-date=2021-12-14}} and its range now extends south to the Palos Verdes Peninsula and some have been located in Santa Barbara County.{{cite web|title=El Segundo blue butterfly|url=https://www.fws.gov/pollinators/features/El_Segundo_blue_butterfly.html|website=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service|access-date=2021-12-14}} The butterfly lays its eggs on Seacliff buckwheat (Eriogonum parvifolium), which the adults also use as a nectar source. This is its host plant. 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.{{bar box

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|caption=Population of the El Segundo Blue per year[https://www.lawa.org/en/lawa-sustainability/sustainability-elements-natural-resources El Segundo Blue Butterfly Counts.] LAX Natural Resources Management, retrieved 10 August 2017
(minimum count in 1000 individuals)

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References

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{{Cite magazine|last=Ohanesian|first=Liz|date=July 15, 2021|title=This Tiny, Blue Butterfly Is in Trouble. Local Conservationists Are Fighting to Change That|magazine=Los Angeles Magazine|url=https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/el-segundo-blue-butterfly-endangered/}}

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El Segundo blue

Taxonomy

Conservation

Distribution and habitat

See also

References

Further reading