Smith's blue butterfly, ''Euphilotes enoptes smithi'', is an

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. This federally listed endangered subspecies of '' Euphilotes enoptes'' occurs in fragmented populations along the Central Coast of California, primarily associated with

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

habitat in one case with a dune-based Maritime Coast Range Ponderosa Pine forest in the Carbonera Creek

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

in Santa Cruz County. The range of ''E. e. smithi'' is from Monterey Bay south to Punta Gorda. Over half of the original habitat of ''E. e. smithi'' has been destroyed by human overpopulation, coastal highway development and trampling of habitat, and invasive plants.Black, H.D and D.M. Vaughn, ''Species profile:Euphilotes enoptes smithi'', in ''Redlist of

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

insects of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

'', May 2005 Several sites are currently being protected to conserve Smith's blue butterfly, including the Maritime Coast Range Ponderosa Pine forest at Carbonera Creek and a preserve at Fort Ord, California—the first site ever chosen for management on behalf of an insect in the United States.Arnold, R.A., 1983. Ecological studies of six endangered butterflies (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae): Island biogeography, patch dynamics, and design of habitat preserves. University of California Publications in Entomology 99: 1-161 ''E. e. smithi'' is associated with two species of buckwheat (''

Eriogonum latifolium ''Eriogonum latifolium'' is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names seaside buckwheat and coast buckwheat. This plant is native to the coastline of the western United States from Washington to central California, where it is a co ...

'' and ''

Eriogonum parvifolium ''Eriogonum parvifolium'' is a species in the family Polygonaceae that occurs on dune formations in the coastal area of Central and Southern California. This evergreen shrub grows to a height of 30 to 100 centimeters with a spread of appro ...

'') during all of its life phases, such that decline in these buckwheat species' populations poses further threats to this butterfly.

Morphology

''Euphilotes enoptes smithi'' is a small butterfly with a wingspan no greater than 2.5 centimeters. Males manifest dorsal wing color of a bright lustrous blue, while females exhibit brown dorsal coloration. Both sexes have with orange-red band markings on the hind dorsal wings. Ventral wing coloration for both males and females is a whitish gray, punctuated with black speckling.

Life cycle and behavior

During its whole lifespan, the Smith's blue butterfly uses only two host buckwheat: ''Eriogonum latifolium'' and ''Eriogonum parvifolium''. After emerging in August or September, adult butterflies mate and deposit eggs on the flowers of these host plants. Hatching transpires soon afterward, and the larvae begin to feed on the flowers of the very same plant. The larvae have chewing mouthparts to feed on the host's flower petals as well as seeds in the flower head. Larvae have a cryptic coloration markings, closely resembling that of the blossoms where they hide. The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

matures through four larval stages or '' instars'' in about 24 days before becoming a

chrysalis A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

. The pupation then occurs in the flower head itself or below in the leaf litter.Dixon, Dave. 1999. ''Dunes Alive-The endangered Smith's blue and marina blue butterflies. A closer look at coastal dune wildlife of south Monterey Bay.'' U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tideline Vol 19 No. 3 1-3. Subsequent to several weeks of feeding and growth, the larvae molt to yield a pupal phase, starting a 41-week period of transformation. The following year, as the ''Eriogonum'' blossom again, new adults emerge, and the cycle repeats. Smith's blue butterflies have a lifespan of approximately one week. Their single week of daytime-only flight is further limited to temperatures above 60

°F The Fahrenheit scale () is a temperature scale based on one proposed in 1724 by the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736). It uses the degree Fahrenheit (symbol: °F) as the unit. Several accounts of how he originally defined his ...

and to times and locales where wind velocities are quite low. Within that one week, they must do sufficient feeding to sustain, they must avoid predation, find and court a mate, and copulate. Then the female must lay the resulting eggs. Early season males have a difficult challenge in finding females since the first females emerge about seven days after the first males. In the early season, it is common that several males congregate around a newly emerged female. Stimulated by pheromones emitted from the female, they become eager to mate before the end of their short lives. The overall population of adults is active between early June to early September.

History and conservation

Smith's blue butterfly was recorded in the scientific literature in the mid-1950s. Rudi Mattoni collected the first specimen of Smith's blue on a trip to the

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ha ...

region with his friend Claude I. Smith: that collection occurred in the vicinity of

Dolans Creek ''Dolans'' is a music venue and pub in Limerick, Ireland. Situated on the city's Dock Road, it opened as a music venue in 1994. The Irish Music Rights Organisation gave Dolans its "Live Music Venue of the Year" award in 2014 and 2015.- Refer ...

in the year 1948 when both men were undergraduates at the University of California, Berkeley. Smith was killed in a freak accident, being swept to sea by a rogue wave while fishing from a rock at Half Moon Bay. Only thereafter did Mattoni analyze his specimen carefully, which he knew was previously undocumented; then he proceeded to publish a treatise on Smith's blue as his Ph.D. dissertation. In tribute to his friend, Mattoni gave Smith's name to the butterfly they had discovered together.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7544876 Euphilotes ESA endangered species Butterfly subspecies