Revised Recovery Plan Published for the Threatened Oregon Silverspot Butterfly

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has published an updated recovery plan for the Oregon silverspot butterfly, adding new information on the species and its habitat to the plan first written in 1982. The pretty little yellow-orange and black butterfly (Speyeria zerene hippolyta) was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1980.

Because there are only six remaining Oregon silverspot populations, and all have declined below levels needed for long-term survival of the species, the updated recovery plan recommends captive rearing efforts. Lewis and Clark College, the Oregon Zoo in Portland and the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle already have begun raising larvae in captivity, and returning butterflies to The Nature Conservancy