silverspot

"I've always loved butterflies, so I wanted to help [keep] the silverspot from becoming extinct," says Melissa Annis, one of the women plucking leaves.

The recovery program began in 1998 when the Oregon silverspot population numbered only 57 individuals, having averaged over 1,000 individuals prior to 1992.

At nearby Point Reyes National Seashore, studies of the Myrtle's silverspots by Stanford University biologist Alan Launer have shown that adults of this endangered butterfly are active from July to September and that the larvae rely on a native California golden violet.

A few miles south of the Presidio, within a 3,600-acre recreational reserve on San Bruno Mountain, three other Bay Area butterflies still cling to existence -- the mission blue, the callippe silverspot and the San Bruno elfin.

San Bruno Mountain is the primary habitat for two species of butterflies--the mission blue butterfly, a species listed under the ESA in 1976 as endangered,(18) and the callippe silverspot butterfly, which was proposed for listing in 1978.(19) The mountain's grasslands also provide habitat for the garter snake and species of rare insects.(20) In 1980, with the listing of the callippe silverspot butterfly still pending, the USFWS revised its proposal to designate portions of the mountain as critical habitat for the butterfly.(21) The proposed critical habitat substantially overlapped the remaining areas on the mountain designated for development, threatening to eliminate almost all of the developer's planned construction.

4 Thomas Riley Studio Season Launch Party and Artist Talk at Silverspot Cinema.

Silverspot Cinema, with 87 screens under development, plans to open an 11-screen theater with a restaurant and bar next month in Coconut Creek, Fla., offering audiences "a boutique destination theater" equipped with the latest sound and projection technology, reserved stadium seating, and extra-large hand-stitched leather seats, specially made for Silverspot.

The area between Cape Perpetua and Heceta Head is home to marbled murrelet, silverspot butterfly, coho salmon, eulachon and northern spotted owl (below), all on the federal list of endangered species.

(239-482-4664), the Mercato gallery at 9118 Strada Place, Suite 8120 (239-596-5820) next to Silverspot Cinema or visit www.MarkLorenDesigns.com.

The Oregon silverspot butterfly (Speyeria zerene hippolyta), a threatened species, was the first to be raised at the lab.

It was created to permit housing construction on San Bruno Mountain, near San Francisco, on land used by three species of rare insects: the mission blue butterfly and San Bruno elfin butterfly, both listed as endangered; and the callippe silverspot butterfly, then a candidate for listing.

Seeds are already sprouting in some areas, and the team expects a bumper crop of wildflowers this spring, which may expand the habitat of at least one endangered species, the Myrtle's silverspot butterfly.

Pavlik eds., 1994); Six Plants and Myrtle's Silverspot Butterfly from Coastal Dunes in Northern and Central California Determined to be Endangered, 57 Fed.