Tag Archives: Lycaenidae

Celastrina ogasawaraensis (Pryer)

Ogasawara Holly Blue (Celastrina ogasawaraensis)

The Ogasawara Holly Blue, described in 1886, is endemic to the Ogasawara Islands, where it appears to have been quite common until the 1970s, when its populations began to crash, mainly caused by the loss of their preferred host plant species due to the native vegetation being overrun by introduced invasive alien plants and because of increasing predation by likewise introduced Green Anoles (Anolis carolinensis Voigt), whose populations are now as high as about 6 million individuals. [1]

The species appears to be extinct in the wild since 2018, when the last individuals were seen.

For some time there had been attempts to establish a captive program: the species was kept in captivity since 2005, once in the Tama Zoological Park and then in the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, both in Tokyo, Japan.

However, these efforts apparently failed, and the last individuals apparently died in 2020.

The Ogasawara Holly Blue is now feared to have been lost.

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References:

[1] Yasuhiro Nakamura: Conservation of butterflies in Japan: status, actions and strategy. Journal of Insect Conservation 15: 5-22. 2011

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female

Photo: コミスジ空港

(under creative commons license (4.0))
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0


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edited: 02.11.2020

Icaricia saepiolus ssp. insulanus (Blackmore)

Vancouver Island Blue (Icaricia saepiolus ssp. insulanus)

The Vancouver Island Blue was described in 1920; it was restricted to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

This taxon hasn’t been seen since 1979 and is feared to be extinct.

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syn. Aricia saepiolus ssp. insulanus Blackmore

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Photo: Don Griffiths; Spencer Entomological Collection, Beaty Biodiversity Museum, UBC
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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edited: 02.02.2024

Trimenia malagrida ssp. malagrida (Wallengren)

Scarce Mountain Copper (Trimenia malagrida ssp. malagrida)

The Scarce Mountain Copper is a little butterfly species with at least four subspecies that occur in some regions of South Africa; the nominate form from the Cape Peninsula is thought to be extinct.

The last known population that was known to exist in the late 1980s inhabited an extremely small area and counted only some 20 to 50 individuals; they apparently disappeared due to forest fires that occurred too often and got out of control.

The photo below shows an individual from another subspecies, the Cederberg Scarce Mountain Copper (Trimenia malagrida ssp. cedrusmontana (Dickson & Stephen)).

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Cederberg Scarce Mountain Copper (Trimenia malagrida ssp. cedrusmontana)

Photo: Brian du Preez
https://www.inaturalist.org/people/mr_fab

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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edited: 21.08.2022

Icaricia saepiolus ssp. aureolus (Emmel, Emmel & Matoon)

Golden Greenish Blue (Icaricia saepiolus ssp. aureolus)

This taxon, described in 1998, was restricted to a wet meadow near the Big Pines Ranger station in Big Pines in the San Gabriel Mountains in the Los Angeles County of California, USA.

The Golden Greenish Blue differs from other subspecies by the extensive golden orange scaling on the dorsal surface of the females.

The sole known population disappeared due to development at its only known colony site.

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Grenish Blue (Icaricia saepilous); undefined subspecies

Photo: Cin-Ty Lee
https://www.inaturalist.org/people/cintylee
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

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References:

[1] Ken Davenport: Lepidoptera of North America 15: Butterflies of southern California in 2018: updating Emmel and Emmel’s 1973 Buterflis of southern California. Contributions of the C. P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity, Colorado State University 2018

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edited: 02.02.2024

Plebejus idas ssp. lotis Lintner

Lotis Blue (Plebejus idas ssp. lotis)

The Lotis Blue is a subspecies of the Idas Blue (Plebejus idas (L.)), a species that is actually quite widespread in the northern hemisphere including the Nearctic- as well as the Palearctic regions; this subspecies, however, was restricted to a small area in the Mendocino County of California, USA.

This form was not seen since 1994 and might now well be completely extinct.

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Photo: Asa Spade

(under creative commons license (4.0))
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

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edited: 23.04.2022

Icaricia icarioides ssp. pheres (Boisduval) 

Pheres Blue (Icaricia icarioides ssp. pheres)

Boisduval’s Blue (Icaricia icarioides (Boisduval)) was described in 1852; the species is currently split into about 17 subspecies which are distributed nearly all over North America, several of them being highly endangered.  

The photo below shows one of these endangered subspecies, the Mission Blue (Icaricia icarioides ssp. missionensis (Hovanitz)), a form that is highly restricted to a few localities in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.  

The caterpillars of all subspecies feed on various lupine species (Lupinus spp.).  

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The Pheres Blue was restricted to sand dunes which once dominated much of what is now the city of San Francisco in Marin County, California.  

The habitat of this local endemic was destroyed due to urban development, and the last Pheres Blues were finally seen in 1974 (?). [2] 

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A population of Boisduval’s Blue, morphologically close to the Pheres Blue, yet most probably not identically with it, was found in 1974 on the dunes at Point Reyes in Marin County, California. (see: Robert L. Langston: Extended flight periods of coastal and dune butterflies in California. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 13: 83-98. 1974). [1]

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syn. Aricia icarioides ssp. pheres (Boisduval), Cupido pheres Boisduval, Icaricia pheres (Boisduval), Lycaena pheres (Boisduval), Plebejus icarioides ssp. pheres (Boisduval), Plebejus pheres (Boisduval)

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Mission Blue (Icaricia icarioides ssp. missionensis); male  

Photo: Patrick Kobernus; National Digital Library of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service  
(public domain)

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References:  

[1] Robert L. Langston: Extended flight periods of coastal and dune butterflies in California. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 13: 83-98. 1974 
[2] Edward F. Connor; John Hefernik; Jacqueline Levy; Vicki Lee Moore; Jancy K. Rickman: Insect conservation in an urban biodiversity hotspot: The San Francisco Bay Area. Journal of Insect Conservation 6: 247-259. 2002  

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edited: 02.02.2024

Lepidochrysops methymna ssp. dicksoni Tite

Dickson’s Dark Opal (Lepidochrysops methymna ssp. dicksoni)  

The Monkey Blue is widely distributed in the Eastern- and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa, the species has very high demands concerning the structure of its habitat.  

The caterpillars in the first few days of their life feed on two plant species, Pseudoselago serrata (P. J. Bergius) Hilliard and Pseudoselago spuria (L.) Hilliard, hereafter they require the presence of colonies of a special ant species, Liengme’s Camponotus Ant (Camponotus liengmei For.) (or Camponotus maculatus ssp. liengmei For.), in whose anthills they live from the third instar on as brood parasites, feeding on the eggs and larvae of the ants.  

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Dickson’s Monkey Blue, called Tygerberg-bloutjie in Afrikaans, was described in the year 1964. The subspecies was restricted to a very tiny area of only about 4 km² on the northwestern side of the Tygerberg range – this area was converted into agricultural land for wheat farming, whereby both, the food plants as well as the ant colonies were destroyed.  

Dickson’s Monkey Blue is now considered extinct.  

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References:  

[1] G. A. Henning; R. F. Terblanche; J. B. Ball: South African Red Data Book: butterflies. SANBI Biodiversity Series 13. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria 2009  

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Depiction from: ‘G. T. Bethune-Baker: A Monograph of the genus Catochrysops Boisduval (Auctorum). Transactions of the Entomological Society of London. 275-366. 1922’ 

(public domain)  

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edited: 14.10.2016

Philotes sonorensis ssp. extinctis Mattoni

Disappeared Sonoran Blue (Philotes sonorensis ssp. extinctis)  

The Sonoran Blue (Philotes sonorensis (C. Felder & R. Felder)) is distributed from Colorado and California, USA southward to parts of Mexico.  

The caterpillars of this species feed on the leaves of various Dudleya species, including Dudleya cymosa (Lem.) Britton & Rose, Dudleya lanceolata (Nutt.) Britt. & Rose, and Dudleya saxosa (M. E. Jones) Britt. & Rose.  

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The Disappeared Sonoran Blue occurred in a small area at the San Gabriel River in southern California, and disappeared in 1967 or 1968 after the destruction of its habitat due to an engineering program for water diversion – it was recognized as a distinct subspecies (the only other subspecies aside from the nominate race) only several years after its extinction.  

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References:  

[1] Rudolf H. T. Mattoni: An unrecognized, now extinct, Los Angeles area butterfly (Lycaenidae). Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 28(4): 297-309. 1989(91)  

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Depiction from: ‘Reise der österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859 unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair. Wien, aus der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Hof- und Staatsdruckerei 1861-1875’ 

(public domain)

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edited: 01.11.2020