LAX’S EL SEGUNDO BLUE BUTTERFLY POPULATION COUNT INCREASES BY 30 PERCENT OVER 2009

LAX’S EL SEGUNDO BLUE BUTTERFLY POPULATION COUNT

INCREASES BY 30 PERCENT OVER 2009

             (Los Angeles, California – January 24, 2011)  The endangered El Segundo Blue butterfly has certainly found a refuge in the 200-acre Dunes Restoration Project at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).   

            The recently completed 2010 seasonal field study and analysis of the El Segundo Blue butterfly now estimates the population between 111,562 and 116,474 -- representing an increase of approximately 30 percent over 2009.  The population count was conducted by consulting entomologist Dr. Richard Arnold.

            “The present count has increased remarkably from the fewer than 500 El Segundo Blue butterflies that existed in 1976 when it became the first insect to be listed as a Federal Endangered Species,” said Robert Freeman, environmental services manager for Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), the City department that owns and operates LAX. 

            To encourage the butterfly’s comeback, LAWA created the Dunes Restoration Project to focus on reintroducing and protecting the coastal buckwheat plant, the butterfly’s sole food source.

            After expanding the butterfly’s habitat to its current 200 acres, LAWA then established ongoing management programs.  Because of these efforts, the El Segundo Blue butterfly population is flourishing.    

            The active flight season of the El Segundo Blue is only a couple of months beginning in mid-June. .By August, their pupae lie dormant until the following June when the cycle begins again.

            To view a three-minute video on the El Segundo Blue butterfly and the 2010

population count, log on to:

http://www.six14productions.com/lawa/Blue%20Butterfly%20v3.mov.

            LAWA began the LAX Dunes Restoration Project in 1986, after careful study and consultation with environmental experts.  Today, the preserve is home again to more than 1,000 species of plants and animals, in addition to the El Segundo Blue butterfly, and 43 acres of virtually undisturbed original native dunes habitat.