For the Xerces Blue article, I plan to rewrite many of the sentences and improve the sentence structure. Increase the number of citations, and add more relevant information.
http://www.kuhmann.com/Butterfly/Glaucopsyche%20lygdamus%20xerces.htm
Xerces blue
editFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Glaucopsyche xerces | |
|---|---|
| Samples of the extinct Glaucopsyche xerces butterfly in the collections of the Field Museum of Natural History | |
| Conservation status | |
| Extinct (1941) (IUCN 2.3) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Tribe: | Polyommatini |
| Genus: | Glaucopsyche |
| Species: | G. xerces |
| Binomial name | |
| Glaucopsyche xerces(Boisduval, 1852) | |
The Xerces blue (Glaucopsyche xerces) is an extinct species of butterfly in the gossamer-winged butterfly family, Lycaenidae[1]. The species lived in coastal sand dunes of the Sunset District of San Francisco peninsula[2]. The Xerces blue 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 1941 or 1943 on land that is part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Remaining specimens are found in California Academy of Sciences, Bohart museum, and the Harvard Museum of Natural History[3].
The species was first described and documented in 1852[3]. It was characterized by blue wings with white spots[4]. The butterfly's fed on vegetation belonging to the genus Lotus and Lupinus[4]. The loss of the Lotus plant that the butterfly fed on while in its larval stages, is believed to be one reason for the extinction of the Xerces blue. The plant could not survive in the disturbed soils due to human development, and was no longer available to Xerces Blue[3][4]. Lupin, Xerces blue's other vegetative food source was not suitable for the Larval stages[4].
Efforts are on to reestablish related butterflies in the Xerces blue's former habitat. 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. The specific name derives from the French spelling of "Xerxes", the name of Persian kings Xerxes I and Xerxes II of the fifth century BC[3].
Xerces is also a group of XML software packages named after this butterfly.
In popular culture[edit | edit source]
editThe Xerces blue butterfly was shown and referenced in The 4400 episode "Ghost in the Machine" when it was brought back from extinction. This was due to a superhuman ability given by the fictional drug "Promicin". In The 4400, Xerces blues where thriving at the beginning of the utopian community Promise City. The Sacramento band Deftones released a song called "Xerces" on their 2006 album Saturday Night Wrist. Also there is a Xerces blue in a Silent Hill's memento called Pinned Beauty.
References[edit | edit source]
editExternal links[edit | edit source]
edit| Wikispecies has information related to: Xerces blue |
- ^ "Extinct -- but maybe not forever". 2013-03-18. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
- ^ "Glaucopsyche lygdamus xerces". www.kuhmann.com. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
- ^ a b c d Resources, University of California Agriculture and Natural. "And Then There Were None: Bohart Museum Remembering Xerces Blue Butterfly In Effort to Help Preserve Other Species". entomology.ucdavis.edu. Retrieved 2017-04-13.
- ^ a b c d Tilden, J. W. (1956). "San Francisco's Vanishing Butterflies" (PDF). The Lepidopterists' News: 113–115.