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Dixon, Dave. 1999. Dunes Alive-The endangered Smith's blue and marina blue butterflies. A closer look at coastal dune wildlife of south Monterey Bay. Tideline Vol 19 No. 3 1-3.
by Dave Dixon The surprisingly small and subtly
beautiful Smith's blue butterfly, (Euphilotes enoptes smithi), was officially recognized in 1976 as an Endangered Species.
It was one of the first insects to receive protection through Federal
Endangered status. Instead of just quietly disappearing from life on earth
the Federal Endangered Species Act formally recognized that the butterfly
was in trouble. This began a story that weaves through the fabric of life
in the dunes of south Monterey Bay. Smith's blue butterfly has only been known in the scientific literature for a little more than 50 years. Rudi Mattoni and his friend Claude I. Smith, while undergraduates at U.C. Berkeley discovered it in 1948. They ventured south to Big Sur in early summer. At Dolan's Creek, Mattoni collected the blue butterfly that they had never seen, which he kept for further study. Smith died an untimely death a few years later, swept to sea while fishing from a rock at Half Moon Bay. He had not yet published the work that was to have been his dissertation, a revision a genus of a dayflying moth. In tribute to his friend, Mattoni gave Smith's name to the butterfly they had discovered exploring Big Sur. To understand the endangered Smith's blue butterfly problem one must |
Dunes
Alive - The Endangered Smith's Blue and Marina Blue ButterfliesLast updated:
May 27, 2008
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