This Butterfly May Have Been the First Insect Driven Extinct by U.S. Urbanization
The beautiful Xerces blue butterfly was a distinct species, according to a new study. It hasn t been seen alive since 1943.
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Photo: Field Museum
Scientists say they’ve confirmed a decades-old suspicion about the loss of the Xerces blue butterfly in the U.S by the 1940s. Based on genetic analysis of a 93-year-old specimen and others, they say the Xerces blue really was a distinct species of butterfly, rather than a sub-group of another existing species, as some scientists have speculated. If true, it would reaffirm the end of the butterfly as the first known insect extinction in the U.S. tied to urbanization.
As the first North American insect to go extinct due to humans, a blue butterfly has become an icon for insect conservation and what happens when humans destroy habitats without thought for the creatures living in them.
The last of the Xerces blue butterflies fluttered through the air in San Francisco in the early 1940s. Now, they can only be seen in glass displays at museums.
These periwinkle pearly-winged insects lived in the coastal sand dunes along San Francisco and were first characterized by scientists in 1852. When urban development swept through this part of California, the sandy soils were disturbed. This caused a ripple effect, wiping out species of the plant the Xerces caterpillars used. The habitat change was too great for the Xerces blue butterfly, and the species went extinct.
As the first North American insect to go extinct due to humans, a blue butterfly has become an icon for insect conservation and what happens when humans destroy habitats without thought for the animals living in them.
The last of the Xerces blue butterflies fluttered through the air in San Francisco in the early 1940s. Now, they can only be seen in glass displays at museums.
These periwinkle pearly-winged insects lived in the coastal sand dunes along San Francisco and were first characterised by scientists in 1852. When urban development swept through this part of California, the sandy soils were disturbed. This caused a ripple effect, wiping out species of the plant the Xerces caterpillars used. The habitat change was too great for the Xerces blue butterfly, and the species went extinct.
This Butterfly May Have Been the First Insect Driven Extinct by U.S. Urbanisation
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The 93-year-old Xerces blue butterfly specimen used in the study. (Photo: Field Museum)
Scientists say they’ve confirmed a decades-old suspicion about the loss of the Xerces blue butterfly in the U.S by the 1940s. Based on genetic analysis of a 93-year-old specimen and others, they say the Xerces blue really was a distinct species of butterfly, rather than a sub-group of another existing species, as some scientists have speculated. If true, it would reaffirm the end of the butterfly as the first known insect extinction in the U.S. tied to urbanisation.