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Early California butterfly enthusiast John A. Comstock was enchanted by the Hermes copper butterfly, describing it in 1927 as “a fascinating little sprite.” But even as far back as the ’20s, it was clear that the insect was endangered by the creeping threat of urbanization. Said Comstock: “It will always be a rarity, and may, in fact, some day become extinct, if San Diego continues to expand at its present rate.” More recently, devastating wildfires have burned through key Hermes copper habitat, putting an end to the tenuous existence of many remaining populations. Soon, as Comstock predicted, the butterfly may no longer “dart about in the sunshine” at all.
ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE
PROTECTION STATUS: Not listed
PETITIONED: 1991 (San Diego Biodiversity Project); 2004 (Center for Biological Diversity)
RANGE: San Diego County and northern Baja California, Mexico
THREATS: Habitat destruction through urbanization, overly frequent wildfire and prescribed fire, and global climate change
POPULATION TREND: Only 15 populations of the Hermes copper are known to remain in existence in the United States following the large San Diego County fires of 2003. Three other populations in Baja California are presumed extant, but their actual status is unknown.
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SAVING THE HERMES COPPER BUTTERFLY
The Hermes copper, long recognized as a rare species, is increasingly threatened by the rapid expansion of southern California cities. As amateur entomologist W.S. Wright wrote back in 1930: “Its trysting places are being rapidly taken over by realtors and the species may soon become extinct….”
In 1984, the butterfly was dubbed a Category 2 candidate under the Endangered Species Act — a designation once given to species for which listing “might be warranted,” but for which there was supposedly insufficient data to justify a listing proposal. In 1991, the San Diego Biodiversity Project submitted the first petition seeking formal protection for the species, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rejected it on weak, technical grounds. In 1996, the Category 2 list was abolished, and even the butterfly’s third-rate listing status was removed. Thus despite more than 20 years of official knowledge of the butterfly’s imperiled state, it’s received no Endangered Species Act protection.
In 2003, 19 of the remaining Hermes copper populations were destroyed by San Diego County’s Paradise, Mine, and Cedar fires, which burned about 39 percent of the butterfly’s habitat and eliminated all 52 colonies in the Crestridge Ecological Reserve. But the Service ignored widespread publicity of these fires’ effect on the butterfly and did nothing to protect it in the following year.
Ignoring a new listing petition submitted by the Center in 2004 — and a 2005 Center lawsuit — the Service announced in 2006 that it would continue to do nothing for the butterfly. But the Center will persist in advocating for Hermes copper protection and opposing uncontrolled urban sprawl. We’re also working to stop the construction of Sunrise Powerlink, a high-voltage electricity transmission line proposed for San Diego County that would increase wildfire risk, destroy habitat, and seriously threaten the Hermes copper and other imperiled species.
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Contact: David Hogan
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