Mount Charleston butterfly ID’d as Nevada’s most endangered species
Most people will never see a Mount Charleston blue butterfly in the wild, so they may have to settle for a pretty poster commissioned by an online lender.
Chicago-based NetCredit has launched a public awareness campaign spotlighting the most endangered species in every state, with an artistic rendering of each lucky/unlucky critter.
Nevada’s entry is the Mount Charleston blue, an extremely rare butterfly subspecies found only in the Spring Mountains west of Las Vegas.
The hard-to-find, difficult-to-identify insect was added to the federal endangered species list in 2013 about a month after the Carpenter 1 Fire scorched a portion of its high-elevation habitat.
The research team behind the NetCredit campaign cited the risk of future wildfires as the main reason it picked the butterfly over other imperiled wildlife in Nevada.
The team based the selections from each state on data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. An “illustrated tribute” was produced showing each animal in its native habitat.
The goal of the project is to bring attention to largely unheralded species that are fighting for survival across the country, often because of human activity.
“We hope this will start a conversation around the fact that it’s not just the iconic species we see on nature documentaries that we’re at risk of losing forever,” project leaders said in a statement.
The Mount Charleston blue butterfly is smaller than a quarter and only lives a week or two, generally taking flight between late June and the end of August to mate and lay eggs during the short window of warm weather in the high country.
Males, like the one featured in NetCredit’s illustration, sport iridescent blue-and-gray wings to attract mates, while the dull, bluish-brown females flutter about depositing tiny eggs on one of a handful of small, ground-hugging host plants.
The exact population is unknown, but there have been years when surveyors couldn’t find any of the insects.
Contact Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Follow @RefriedBrean on Twitter.
