Holding on~

               
A Miami Blue Butterfly                                                        A Schaus Swallowtail Butterfly
Photo credit: FWC/M.Wisnieski                                        Photo credit: FWS
 


At first glance this morning, the first story  below,  gave rise to a tiny hope for two critically endangered, if not already extinct Florida Butterflies, but alas, upon reading it, the two that I had been hoping this pertained to, were not even mentioned in it.
So, is this good news  nonetheless, absolutely.
South Florida is at long last, cutting way back/down on its use of pesticides in controlling mosquitos.
But we need to do it here, there and everywhere and always, from this day forward, if we hope to continue to see the entire range of pollinators, amphibians and countless other fragile and environmentally susceptible creatures in Florida.
The two aforementioned Butterflies, The Miami Blue   and  The Schaus Swallowtail are both teetering on extinction, thanks to countless decades of failure to understand, respect and appreciate the absolutely devastating effect that pesticides have on all Insects, all Humans, everything.
The excessive Global overuse of Pesticides for whatever purpose, will in the end, end us all.
We simply must stop their use, as every living thing on our planet, is depending on it.
These lethal toxins are being used by any and all, for every problem, with no thought or consideration,  to their Global long-term effects.
Other than the obvious deleterious effect of the pesticides, a new marauder, the invasive Iguana,which is definitely, not indigenous, has been  personally killing off the Miami Blue Butterflies, by eating the very plants  that they lay their eggs on, the gray nickerbean, etc.,  on their last known refuge on Bahia Honda, in the Keys.
We had seen these out of control creatures walking the streets of Miami on each of our trips down to the Keys.

*Before completing this posting, I needed to confirm the status of the Miami Blue, and after a quick call to UF and speaking with Dr. Jaret Daniels, it is my great joy to relay his message that yes, the Miami Blue is still alive and living at the Key West National Refuge.

So, thankfully, it would seem, that these two Butterflies are indeed, still holding on.
 
Places to learn more:
Mosquito spraying in South Florida scaled back to protect rare butterflies
Butterfly Monitoring
Invaders in Paradise
Schaus Swallowtail Emergency
Threatened butterfly vanishes from Florida refuge
The ant, the butterfly and their chemical warfare with an oregano plant