Xerces Blue
FamilyLycaenidae
Scientific NameGlaucopsyche xerces
RangeSan Francisco, California
HabitatCoastal sand dunes
About the Xerces Blue
A small blue butterfly that once lived on the sand dunes of San Francisco. As the city grew over its habitat it vanished, and it was last seen in the early 1940s. It is thought to be the first American butterfly driven extinct by urban development. The Xerces Society, an invertebrate conservation organization founded in 1971, is named in its memory.
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