Our favorite native plant people have succeeded in returning the missing Mission Blue Butterfly to San Francisco. This is the best news, the kind of thing that makes San Francisco the greatest place to live ever.
Mission Blues are SF natives but, like other butterflies written about in earlier posts, have disappeared from the city as their habitat has been replaced by invasive species and encroaching development. Our heroes, the Nature in the City folks, working with Recreation and Park staff and plant biologists, recreated the ecosystem the butterflies need to reproduce. They reintroduced native lupines to Twin Peaks, brought pregnant Blues over from San Bruno Mountain, then sat up with them all night like midwives caring for expectant mothers. Yesterday the first butterfly baby spread its beautiful blue wings and flew off to feed and find a mate, demonstrating yet again how important our native plant communities are to preserving our fragile San Francisco ecosystems.
Keep your eyes out for more Mission Blues and let the Nature in the City folks know when and where you've spotted one. Here's how to contact them:
http://www.natureinthecity.org
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