Endangered Species Law & Policy

The Fish and Wildlife Service announced it is listing the Miami blue butterfly (Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri) as endangered on an emergency  basis under the Endangered Species Act.  The agency decision (pdf) appears in the August 10, 2011 Federal Register.  The species "is currently known to occur at only a few small remote islands within the Florida Keys."  This current distribution is dramatically smaller than the historic distribution, according to the Service: "the Miami blue has undergone a substantial reduction in its historical range, with an estimated > 99 percent decline in area occupied."  Along with the emergency listing decision for the Miami blue butterfly, the Service took action to protect three butterfly species that are similar in appearance: the cassius blue butterfly (Leptotes cassius theonus), ceraunus blue butterfly (Hemiargus ceraunus antibubastus), and nickerbean blue butterfly (Cyclargus ammon).  In an article reporting on the Service's decision, one journalist reported that "after reviewing the dire data on the Miami blue, the agency moved up its listing from a 2012 date initially proposed" in a lawsuit settlement.  (Miami Herald, August 9, 2011, by Curtis Morgan.)