Xerces Blue

[Stelenes at aol.com]

Dear Ms. Hammond,

According to the National Field Guide to North American Butterflies, the 
pioneering guidebook in the US showing photos of live butterflies in their 
"natural" habitats, by Dr. Bob Pyle and a fellow Washingtonian to your class, 
the story of the Xerces Blue:

"Former Habitat: Coastal sand dunes of San Francisco, CA. Former Range: Upper 
San Francisco Peninsula from about North Beach to Presidio and south along 
coast to Lake Merced district   ...  The Xerces Blue disappeared forever in 
1943 when an expanding military facility claimed the land where the last 
colony lived.  Its memory is recalled in the name of the Xerces Society, a 
worldwide group devoted to the conservation of rare insects through the 
recognition and protection of their unique habitats."

Notes to Ms. Hammond:

(0)  If you or any of your students pass by the Natural History Museum in 
Pacific Grove, CA, one of the convenient and further north overwintering 
sites of the Monarchs, there is a Museum of Natural History there with two or 
three pinned specimens of this pretty butterfly collected over 50 years ago 
when one could still see Xerces Blue's in the wild.  They also have the 
detailed extermination account repeated of what happened.  I suppose the 
threat of World War II and lesser ecological awareness together during the 
Japanese and German aggression campaigns was judged so important that the 
butterflies didn't have a chance.  PG is near Monterey and a couple hours' 
drive south of San Francisco.

(1) A real key point at the foundation of "What happens to the world when a 
butterfly species is lost" is what happens when a unique habitats and the 
treasure chest of diversity is reduced and lost?  It is no secret that this 
is happening at a rate that will make it look more and more like the Sahara 
desert or Haiti or even London or Metro-New Jersey in short order.  The 
troubling thing is that it is in our lifetimes.  This is not to discount the 
loss of an irreplaceable species.  How sad of a world it would be without 
birds singing, except for pigeons, in the morning, and the only butterflies 
being Cabbage Whites, and the only shells, from Garden Snails.  For parts of 
northern Europe among other places in the world, scenarios like this are too 
close an uncomfortable near reality. 

(2) As for what is lost when a unique life form is forever exterminated, it 
might be a good idea not to have your student think that you can so easily 
separate causes and effects in the natural world.  That is a little of a 
challenging, though holding class outside in an appropriate location or on a 
field trip, could help when it is discussed.  Everything seems to center on 
maintaining a healthy habitat and butterflies are a good indicator or health, 
partly due to their visibility and also due to the appreciation people seem 
to have for their beauty.  Perhaps the Internet site of the Xerces Society 
itself has one of the best answers to your class' question on what happens 
when a species is forever lost (I cut it and pasted it next).  
http://www.xerces.org/about.htm

>From the Xerces site http://www.xerces.org/about.htm:

<Introduction
Welcome to the Web page of the Xerces Society, an international nonprofit 
organization focused on public education about invertebrates and conservation 
projects that demonstrate their critical roles in endangered ecosystems 
around the globe. Named for the Xerces Blue butterfly (Glaucopsyche xerces), 
the first butterfly in North America known to become extinct as a result of 
human interference, our mission is to strengthen the basis of conservation 
policies with scientific knowledge about “the little things that run the 
world.” 

The Value of Invertebrates
Invertebrates eclipse all other forms of life on earth by sheer numbers and 
diversity. Whether measured in terms of biomass or species, invertebrates 
constitute 90 to 95 percent of animal life on earth. Insects make up the bulk 
of all invertebrates, including beetles, bees, true bugs, flies, ants, 
dragonflies, grasshoppers, moths, and butterflies. In addition, an amazing 
array of other invertebrate organisms exists: spiders, centipedes, mites, 
scorpions, crabs, lobsters, worms, snails, clams, squid, starfish, sea 
urchins, sponges, and protozoans. 

The interactions of invertebrates form the biological foundation of all 
ecosystems: invertebrates cycle nutrients, pollinate crops and other plants, 
disperse seeds, maintain soil structure and fertility, exert control over 
populations of other organisms, and provide a major food source. In short, 
they supply vital ecological services to the human population.>

(3)  In the case of the Xerces Blue's habitat which was destroyed because it 
no longer had the plants and habitat it needed, you could mention that before 
people came to settle the beautiful Pacific Northwest, in place of the 
endless farms were meadows and fields of wildflowers of beauty beyond my 
words' ability to describe, like a magical pristine kingdom.  There were 
fantastic forests of gigantic trees like Redwoods Giant Sequoias and Douglas 
Firs which were every bit as magical.  Now apartments and bald hills replace 
them, erosion problems in the interior as well as the coasts are solved by 
concrete instead of wildlife.

(4) I always wanted to have a class of young children to critique the stories 
of Paul Bunyan and his big Blue Ox Babe who came to symbolize our fascination 
in the 1800's with environmental destruction and compare it to how the world 
changes today.

(5) As an extra project related to habitat destruction, you could research 
the Columbia River in your area.  Perhaps the grandeur of America is 
forgotten as people are so impressed by the likes of great companies like 
Microsoft (maybe Redmond is around the corner from you in Bellvue, WA).  The 
Columbia wasn't discovered until about 200 years ago by the literate world, 
yet, I believe it was second only to the Amazon River in terms of volume of 
water passing through during the snowmelt season.  It was a glorious river, 
equally furious and beautiful, nothing like we see today.  Piece by piece, 
its picturesque zigzags and elbows were straightened out, back flooded into 
valleys to form lakes, just like Paul Bunyan did with his ax, no doubt in the 
process losing different kinds of butterflies as vast amounts of territory 
were tamed for men and women.  If you think about the Xerces Blue, you can 
extend that to think about what has happened before 1943 a moment of silent 
meditation, a fine way to reflect on how to avoid this in the future and 
understand our actions impact our fragile planet.

(6) You might try the Xerces Society at www.xerces.org <The site lists Jeff 
Adams at jadams at xerces.org as a contact> for information on further 
educational materials.  I think they are in Portland, Oregon, though I used 
to think it was Wyoming or Washington.  They especially focus on all kinds of 
insects and 8+ legged bugs, and education is part of their mission. 

(7) Good luck with the kids!  you can check my homepage link:
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/4048/Douglas/douglas.html
for a little more info on pristine habitat in the Pacific Northwest, though 
it is somewhat biased and sad.

Best wishes.  
Doug Dawn
Woodland, CA
stelenes at pobox.com


In a message dated 5/14/00 1:27:41 PM Pacific Daylight Time, mazzeip at tin.it 
writes:

> Christie L. Hammond (Lake Hills Elementary School, Bellevue, Washington,
>  mailto:Christie.Hammond at bsd405.com) wrote:
>  
>  Hi,
>  
>  It's me again.  My class and I have so been enjoying the generous
>  responses that we have received to our questions.  One of the things my
>  kids wanted to know about is the effect of extinct butterflies on the
>  ecosystem.  I believe the Xerces Blue butterfly is the first butterfly
>  to become extinct in North America.  I have been unablt to locate any
>  pictures or information regarding this butterfly or why it became
>  extinct.  I thought I would send this inquiry to you and see what you or
>  your e-mail network came up with.  We still have much work that we plan
>  to do but my class will be contacting you regarding the results of our
>  study.
>  
>  Again, thank you so much for your assistance with this project.
>  
>  Christie Hammond