Silvery blue butterfly

plants native to the Pacific Northwest.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (April 15, 2024) — In a historic reintroduction that further restores native ecosystems in San Francisco, the California Academy of Sciences and Presidio Trust released Silvery Blue butterflies (Glaucopsyche lygdamus)—the closest living relative of the extinct Xerces Blue butterfly (G. xerces)—last week in the sand dunes of the Presidio, a national park site.

The Karner blue butterfly was first described more than a century ago in Karner, New York. It is a small butterfly, with a wingspan of about one inch. The male's wings are distinctively marked with a silvery or dark blue color. The female is grayish brown, especially on the outer portions of the wings, to blue on the topside, with irregular bands of orange crescents inside the narrow black border.

Silvery Blue Butterfly | Silvery Blue Butterfly are small, iridescent blue butterflies found in North America and Canada. Their wingspan is only 7 - 8 inch to 1 - 1/4 inch wide and they are found in a wide range of habitats, from coastal dunes and prairies. Although the species as a whole is abundant, is a subspecies (palosverdesensis) with extinction, with a rank of T1 by the Nature Conservancy (worldwide critically endangered by the extreme rarity), and another (xerces) is considered…

Silvery Blue

silvery blue - Glaucopsyche lygdamus - male