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El Segundo blue butterfly (Euphilotes battoides allyni) is a butterfly local to a small dune ecosystem in Southern California, close to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). It is a federally designated endangered species. The El Segundo Blue Butterfly Habitat Preserve next to LAX exists to protect the species. There are only three extant colonies of this tiny butterfly still in existence. The largest of these is on the grounds of LAX; a further colony exists on a site owned by an oil company, and the smallest colony is an area of only a few square yards on a local beach. The butterfly lays its eggs on Coast buckwheat, which the adults also use as a nectar source.
[edit] Further reading
- Mattoni, Rudolf H. T., "The Endangered El Segundo Blue Butterfly," The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera, Volume 29 (4), Winter 1990. PDF 19.5 MB
