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Entering the Race to Save this Buetiful Species 

Guiding the Way for Science

    Mission Blue butterflies are a very important group of model organisms to investigate many areas of biological research, such as: diverse fields as navigation, pest control, embryology, mimicry, evolution, genetics, population dynamics, and biodiversity conservation for scientist (Butterfly Conservation). Scientist often use these butterflies to study the fascinating life-cycles from the transformation from egg to caterpillar and then to chrysalis (Butterfly Conservation). They also study the intricate wing patterns and iridescence to find information about their migration as well as other insects (Butterfly Conservation). The Mission Blue butterflies have often provided a “unique data resource on an insect group unmatched in geographical scale and timescale anywhere in the world. This has proved extremely important for scientific research on climate change” (Butterfly Conservation).

    In Brisbane, CA, a town home to the small population of Mission Blue Butterflies, has a community center named after the butterfly (The Mission Blue Center) where many famous singers perform. It is also a place where weddings, community meetings about current issues, and habitat restoration days occur (Rhodes, 2008).

Butterfly Power in Brisbane

The Symbol with Many Meanings

Butterflies play a huge role in the culture of Native Americans. Many of the different tribes have different meanings for butterflies (Warpaths). Some tribes believed the butterflies were a symbol of dreams, joy, a communication from the dead, etc. (Warpaths). Many of the colored butterflies each carry a different meaning to Native Americans. The blue butterfly specifically represents joy, happiness and love (Warpaths). Since many Native Americans believed the butterflies were associated with dreams, many of the baby’s clothes or blankets had butterflies embroidered on them to help the child sleep (Warpaths). Butterflies are also on a lot of their teepees, vases, pots, and other possessions (Warpaths).

Mission Blue butterflies mimicry studied by many scientist (image from Crundall, 1915)
The Mission Blue Center is located in Brisbane, CA (image from Robson, 2008)
Native Americans teepes are often covered with butterfly embroidered Plains Indians Teepee Tipi (image from Plains Indians Teepee Tipi)
Native Americans vases are often covered with butterflies (image from Germain, 1794)

    The beautiful Mission Blue Butterfly used to rome and spread its wings all around San Francisco and the Marin peninsulas of Northern California (The Xerces Society).That sadely is not the case anymore, the Mission Blue Butterfly is now restricted to only a few sites (The Xerces Society). The Mission Blue butterfly was first collected in 1937 from the Mission District of San Francisco. (Engelsiepen, Jane, 2012). It was unfortunately, one of the first insects to be added to the federal endangered species list in 1971 (Engelsiepen, 2012). There are only very small colonies that survive today (The Xerces Society). The San Bruno Mountain population is estimated at 18,000 adults, The Skyline Ridges supports approximately 2,000 adults and there may be as many as 500 at Twin Peaks. (Golden Gate National National Parks Conservancy, 2016) which may seem like a significant amount but what must be kept in mind is that the Mission Blue Butterfly is Endemic to San Francisco Bay Area. With all the development and ecological threats in our world today, those numbers might soon cease to exist.

© 2018 SEA-DISC Sir Francis Drake HS by Grace Hazel and Jessica Yepez. 

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