The world's rarest butterfly

The Palos Verdes Blue is the rarest butterfly in the world. It is so rare that it was thought to be extinct for over a decade. It survives in only one place on earth.In and around the Defense Fuel Point on the Palos Verdes Peninsula a suburb of Los Angeles.

This is a picture of the habitat of the Palos Verdes Blue. Click on it to see a bigger version.

The butterfly was believed extinct for 11 years before entomologists walking across the site spotted on fluttering ahead of them. It had occurred at a site at Hesse Park but this site was destroyed to make a very ordinary baseball park..

This is a picture of Hesse Park today. Click on it to to see a bigger version.

The Palos Verdes blue lays its eggs on two kinds of plants locoweed and deerweed. Below are some pictures of the Palos Verdes Blue. Click on them to see a bigger version.