Xerces Blue

[Randy Emmitt]

Christie,

Doug Dawn wrote:

"The Xerces Blue is very easy to distinguish from
the Silvery Blue which is a common name for the species argued to contain
it.
 If you look at the upper wing it is hard to tell, but the lower surface
were
albino white dots instead of the black ones you see in this pic of the
Silvery Blue"

I have photos from May 01, 2000 of our North Carolina species of Silvery
Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus) after reading about the Ca. version I see that
ours is much more habitat restricted. The four I found all were by
themselves many miles apart. All at high elevations in the mountians and
very restricted to it`s host plants  Carolina Vetch (Vicia caroliniana). The
photos I took of the three that let me photograph them may still be out
there as it was only 13 days ago. Have a look at
http://www.rlephoto.com/butterflies/blue_silvery01.htm

Regards,

Randy L Emmitt
Rougemont, NC
Butterflies Found In NC Online!
http://www.rlephoto.com/butterflies/butterflies.html

Paolo Mazzei wrote:

> 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