The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced that two petitions - one to list the Thornes hairstreak butterfly and the other to list the Hermes Copper butterfly - under the Endangered Species Act do not contain substantial information to indicate listing is warranted. The negative findings on the two petitions were published in the Federal Register on August 8, 2006.
The petitions to list the species were submitted to the Service by the Center for Biological Diversity in 2004. Under the Endangered Species Act, the Service is required to review the petitions in a process known as 90-day finding and determine whether they contain substantial information to warrant listing.
The Hermes copper butterfly is a small, brightly colored butterfly restricted to areas containing its larval host plant, spiny redberry. Spiny redberry commonly grows in coastal-sage scrub, chaparral and the woodlands of California.
The Thorne's hairstreak butterfly has reddish brown wings with dark brown shading and is restricted to areas that contain its larval host plant, Tecate cypress. Associated with chaparral ecosystems in southern California and northern Baja California, Tecate cypress occurs primarily on north-facing slopes from near sea level to over 4,200 feet in elevation.
The petitioner claimed that both species are; Shruti highly vulnerable to extinction due to the threat of wildfire and prescribed fire that could destroy their host and nectar plants. However, the Service found that frequency of fire in occupied habitat over the past century is not high enough on average to threaten Thornes hairstreak butterfly. With regard to Hermes copper butterfly, the Service found that information provided does not substantiate the petitioners claim. Furthermore, both subspecies appear to be able to re-colonize burned areas over time.
The petitioner also claimed that few regulatory mechanisms currently exist that might conserve the butterflies habitat. The Service determined that current Federal regulations and activities provide a significant level of protection for the Thornes hairstreak butterfly and/or its habitat on Federal lands that include the subspecies entire known range. Substantial information was not provided to indicate the Hermes copper butterfly is threatened at this time by inadequacy of existing Federal mechanisms.
The petitioner claimed that fragmentation of habitat, fire, roads, and other natural or manmade factors pose a significant threat to the species. The Service reported that while these factors may impact these two species to some degree, the significance of these threats remains unknown because of a lack of specific information documenting threats of fragmentation, isolated populations, and climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.
Learn more about climate change to the species or its host plant.
Although the Service will not be commencing a 12 month in-depth status review in response to these petitions, it will continue to monitor potential threats and ongoing management actions that might be important with regard to the conservation of the Thorne's hairstreak and Hermes copper butterflies.
These findings were prepared pursuant to a court order resulting from a lawsuit filed against the Service by the Center for Biological Diversity. Copies of the petition findings are available on the Internet at http://carlsbad.fws.gov or by contacting the Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office at 760-431-9440.
