Xerces blue
The Xerces blue (Glaucopsyche xerces) is a recently extinct species of butterfly in the gossamer-winged butterfly family, Lycaenidae. The species lived in coastal sand dunes of the Sunset District of the San Francisco Peninsula in California. The Xerces blue is believed to be the first American butterfly species to become extinct as a result of loss of habitat caused by urban development. The last Xerces blue was seen in 1941 or 1943 on land that is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
| Xerces blue | |
|---|---|
| Samples of the extinct Glaucopsyche xerces butterfly in the collections of the Field Museum of Natural History | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Glaucopsyche |
| Species: | †G. xerces |
| Binomial name | |
| †Glaucopsyche xerces (Boisduval, 1852) | |
| Synonyms | |
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