Photo: Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times

The rare Palos Verdes Blue butterfly (Glaucopsyche lygdamus palosverdesensis) took flight on a wind-swept bluff of the Palos Verdes peninsula in Southern California on Saturday, March 7th 2010.  Then another. Then another! Conservationists released 80 endangered butterflies in all, each bred in captivity, venture into the wild.

It was a big step into saving the Palos Verdes Blue butterfly from extinction.  This butterfly’s life is short, living for five to 10 days, it must work quickly to reproduce. During it’s short life, it must find nectar for energy, chose a mate, locate it’s host plant, locoweed (Astragalus trichopodes var. lonchus) and finally lay eggs for the survival of it’s species.

There are now as many as 10,000 Palos Verdes Blues compared to 1994 when they were at the brink of extinction.  Still, they face years of conservationist’s help before they can be removed from the federal list of endangered species.

A big thanks to conservationist at the The Urban Wildlands Group.  The UWG is dedicated to the conservation of species, habitats, and ecological processes in urban and urbanizing areas.