Resurrection Ecology of the Xerces Blue Butterfly by Stuart Weiss
Details
Title: Resurrection Ecology of the Xerces Blue Butterfly.
Presenter: Stuart B. Weiss, Ph.D
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/CzEgX4PaRYaAMHmIA0qQbg
Description: The Xerces blue butterfly (Glaucospsyche xerces) occupied sand dunes in western San Francisco but urban development drove it into extinction by the 1940s. Starting in the 1990s, many acres of sand dune habitat has been restored in the Presidio, including the presumptive hostplant of the Xerces blue, deerweed. In 2000, Bob Pyle published an article about “resurrecting” the Xerces blue using silvery blues from nearby populations. This webinar tells the story of how a community of scientists and enthusiasts executed the introduction of silvery blue butterflies, including habitat assessments, genetic studies, selection of appropriate source populations, translocation, and subsequent monitoring.
Bio: Stuart B. Weiss (Ph.D. Stanford University 1996) is an independent conservation ecologist at Creekside Science, applying cutting edge science to conserve numerous imperiled species and landscapes in a rapidly changing 21st Century environment. He has been working with imperiled (and common) butterflies on the West Coast for more than 40 years, providing scientific advice for habitat enhancement and translocation projects for the Bay checkerspot, Taylor’s checkerspot, Quino checkerspot, chalcedon checkerspot, Mission blue, California ringlet, and silverly blue butterflies.
Bob Pyle provided the photos. 'Here are Xerces male Dorsal and Ventral from the Yale Peabody Museum, and male D & V of two forms from U.Fla. museum, both in the public domain