Entering the Race to Save This Beautiful Species
Pollinator to the Rescue
The Mission Blue butterfly is one of the crucial pollinators to the city of San Francisco (SF Environment, 2012). It's an insect that unfortunately remains at high risk for becoming extinct. (SF Environment, 2012). The mission blue butterfly maintains the great biodiversity of plants in the San Francisco Bay Area (Save Mount Sutro Forest,2010)..Pollination increases biodiversity as well as provides for the survival of many plants. The Mission Blue butterflies is a great pollinator for our environment.
The Best Kind of Pest Control
These butterflies are great for the gardens of many and for the plants in our Bay Area. Mission Blue butterflies are a natural pest control (Butterfly Conservation). These butterflies eat many pests, one of them being the Parsley worm. Many people will plant parsley to attract these butterflies and as well as to control the amount of pests in their gardens.
Seeds Lupin provides for humans to eat (image from Rasbak, 2007)
The Mission Blue Butterfly pollinating the native Lupin in San Francisco (image from Kobernus, 2010)
The Mission Blue butterfly is a great pest control and eats pests like the parsley worm (image from Swenty, 2013)
The Mission Blue Butterfly spends most of its time pollinating a type of plant called Lupin, specifically the silver lupin bush (Lupinus albifrons), summer lupine (Lupinus formosus), and varicolor lupine (Lupinus variicolor). This Lupin is an excellent source of protein as well as dietary fiber to many animals. Lupin seeds are a great excellent meat substitute for people who are vegetarian or vegan. They also have cholesterol lowering properties, contributing hugely to cardiovascular health. (Hart, 2016).