Locally Extinct Butterflies Now Thriving in The Presidio

Thank you to ABC7 News for sharing that a previously locally extinct butterfly is now flourishing in The Presidio.

Thanks to a successful restoration of their native habitat, the Variable Checkerspot Butterflies were the sixth native wildlife species to be re-introduced in the Presidio and now they’re thriving.

The variable checkerspot or Chalcedon checkerspot (Euphydryas chalcedona) is a common species of butterfly ranging across the Western States of North America and along the West Coast it extends from Baja California to Alaska. While the checkerspot was once prevalent in the City and County of San Francisco, it is now isolated to one remnant population at Laguna Honda Reservoir. The primary cause of its decline in the city was habitat loss and the associated decline of larval host plants, the sticky monkey-flower (Mimulus aurantiacus) and bee plant (Scrophularia californica).

The species historically occurred in the Presidio and was last recorded in September of 1978. Since the park’s inauguration in the mid-1990s approximately 50 acres of suitable and contiguous habitat has been restored and the butterfly’s host plant populations have dramatically increased, including two additional host plants commonly used in egg laying—the Indian paint brush (Castalleja spp.) and English plantain (Plantago lanceolate).

Be on the lookout for them. Now, they can seen throughout all of the restored areas of the park.

Read more about Operation Checkerspot on The Presidio Trust.