Endangered Butterfly Lights Up Manhattan Beach (The Bay Foundation)
“Almost four years after the Manhattan Beach Living Shorelines dune restoration project started, the federally endangered El Segundo Blue Butterfly (ESBB) population burst onto the scene in June 2024. At the onset of the project, The Bay Foundation (TBF) planted hundreds of individuals of sea cliff buckwheat (Eriogonum parvifolium), the host plant for the entire life cycle of the ESBB. Since then, hundreds more plants have germinated and matured, resulting in a healthy, well-established host plant population ideal for the ESBB.
A few individuals of this tiny, vibrant butterfly were spotted in 2022, but beginning on June 12th, 2024, hundreds of individuals were spotted fluttering about the sea cliff buckwheat all along the bike path from 23rd Street to 36th Street. The ESBB flight season averages just three weeks long, during which they mate, deposit eggs, and die. With their host plant doing so well in the restoration site, and the butterflies emerging in such huge numbers here, TBF is delighted to play a part in bringing back this charismatic butterfly from the edge of extinction and looks forward to seeing next year’s flight season!”
-The Bay Foundation
Read more about the El Segundo Blue Butterfly here.
