MIAMI BLUE

Have you ever wondered about the different butterflies in the world? I am going to tell you about
an endangered butterfly which is The Miami Blue.
Miami Blue ( Cyclargus thomasi bethunbakeri) is a little butterfly with brightly colored blue
wings located in the coast of South florida. This butterfly is one of the rarest butterflies in
florida. It was once a common butterfly around Florida through the 1970’s but it has become
critically endangered. After Hurricane Andrew ripped through South Florida in 1992, the Miami
blue butterfly almost went extinct. No one recorded a single sighting for years. It was
rediscovered in 1999 in Bahia Honda State Park in the Lower Florida Keys by one of the NABA
(North American Butterfly Association) member. Now, it's only found in some areas of Keys.
The population of these arthropods had been threatened and endangered mostly because of
habitat loss and unethical collection of butterflies.

This picture represents the areas of where the miami blue once found. It was spread around Florida but mostly the Florida keys.
Although the Extant population of miami blues are in Bahia Honda state park and Key West National Wildlife Refuge
The Miami blue experienced its first major problems in the 1980s, when coastal growth exploded
and Florida's war on mosquitoes dispersed toxic chemicals.
This butterfly has a forewing length of 1-1.3 centimeters. Miami Blue is named for its native
range and for the bright blue coloring on its back, only visible when its wings are stretched due
to its dull, gray underside.
Males have narrow black margins and the top portion of the wings has a metallic blue shade,
while females have a wide black margin, orange eyespot and dark gray with some blue tinge
around the base. Its average wingspan is 22 - 28 mm. Its flight pattern is normal to fast.
Talking about the wings of butterflies, how about the differences to moths? Their wings when
resting, moths tend to open their wings while butterflies usually close it. The colors are very
different as well, moth's wings are dull while butterflies are colorful. Moth’s wings are also hairy.

The butterfly has three main parts; Head, Thorax and Abdomen. Their head is really important
because it has organs for sensory and feeding like their antenna, proboscis, and the eyes. The
thorax is the body of a butterfly that has the legs like foreleg, midleg, and hind leg. And also its
wings like the forewing and its hind wings. Finally the abdomen parts are the digestive tract,
spiracles and reproductive organs.

The Miami Blue Butterfly is classified in the animal kingdom. It’s one of the arthropods. A
butterfly is an insect that belongs in the insecta class. Lepidoptera is the order where moths and
butterflies belong to. Lycaenidae is the second-largest family of butterflies, it's also called
gossamer-winged butterflies, the miami blue belongs to this family. Genus of Miami Blue is
called Cyclargus. And the species is Cyclargus Thomasi. This butterfly is very very small, very
mysterious and congested; they're like the Monalisa of the butterfly world. Each butterfly has a
specific plant that it lays its eggs. If we don't have the plants, we don't have butterflies.
We are no longer having butterflies that are natives to that ecosystem
This Cyclargus Thomasi habitat is the tropical hardwood hammocks, tropical pine rocklands, and
beachside scrub in Florida, the Miami Blue is one of the coastal species of butterflies. The
habitat of this butterfly is typically terrestrial and dry but it's sometimes also humid. It likes to go
on bushes and fly freely.
These butterfly host plants are balloonvine, gray nickerbean, and blackbead where adult
butterflies eat flower nectars and rotting fruits. Miami blue populations are capable of producing
multiple generations each year between the months of February and November. Their eggs are
laid on the flowers, flower buds, and terminal growth of its host plants. The larvae of these
creatures are usually bright green with a black head,
red-brown dorsal line and white literal lines. When the
caterpillar changes the form of the chrysalis, its body color
changes to brown or black. It takes almost 30 days for this
insect to metamorphose into an adult Miami Blue butterfly.

Adult Miami blues have a lifespan of between one and two

weeks. They will stay within 30 feet of their birthplace.
During that time, the females will lay between 20 and 100
eggs a day. It is suspected that when there is no new growth
on the plants for them to feed on, ant colonies store the
butterfly eggs until more favorable conditions arise for
them to hatch and become caterpillars. In exchange for this,
the ants receive a sweet sugar substance from the caterpillar
cocoon and do not harm it. They may protect them from
predators or parasitoids.

Miami Blue’s live close to each other’s islands. If there were a hurricane or climate change or
even rain coming , they're going to be gone. It has been blamed on an array of threats, from
pesticide spraying and development to exotic iguanas and ants eating the plants the butterflies
rely on for feeding and breeding. Some say that there's only about 100 adult butterflies left.
Scientists and researchers have been finding a way to keep Miami Blue from extinction.
Scientists believe captive breeding and reintroductions are their best hope of recovery. We can be
in serious trouble if we are caught, capturing, injuring, try to sell it and even harass it. We can
look but can't touch, except for the experts and authorized people.
We need to increase the population of the Miami blues, to do that people are putting larvaes or
pupa into cups with leaves. The cups have a pretty big hole where adult butterflies can get out to
the open. Collecting the pupas and larvaes to make it safe is one of the easiest ways to help this
butterfly.
To monitor the released butterflies, mesh enclosures have been placed over beach scrub habitat.
Releases of Miami blues began in May 2019 and are anticipated to continue through October.
The project has had early successes, especially at Bahia Honda State Park. After releasing
several hundred butterflies at Bahia Honda in May, the Miami blues have been successfully
reproducing in the wild without further human assistance.

The Miami Blue Butterfly is one of the rarest most endangered butterflies in the world. It has
Metallic Blue wings and gray underside. It is unique, cute, small and is in the species of
Cyclargus Thomasi. In order to help them, we can't destroy their habitat like the beach scrubs,
bushes, tropical hardwood hammocks and tropical pine rocklands. The butterfly of extreme
south Florida and the Keys may constitute the most endangered suite of species in the continental
United States. All have suffered from the catastrophic loss of habitat caused by converting most
of south Florida's natural habitat into urban and suburban developments.We need to save these
butterflies because butterflies like the Miami Blue makes the world more beautiful, colorful and
happier.
Sources and references:
Primary:
Florida Museum. “Miami Blue Butterflies.” Youtube, Jun 15, 2019, https://youtu.be/d1NDRgPG4kQ. Accessed
25 Sep 2021.

CBS Sunday Morning. “From 2003: Saving the Miami Blue butterfly.” Youtube, Feb 10, 2021,
https://youtu.be/IsUn_vL6uh8. Accessed 26 Sep 2021

“RULES RELATING TO ENDANGERED OR THREATENED SPECIES.” 68A-27 : Rules Relating to

Endangered or Threatened Species - FLORIDA ADMINISTRATIVE RULES, Law, Code, Register - FAC, FAR,
ERULEMAKING, Florida Administrative Code & Florida Administrative Register, 27 May 2021,
https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ChapterHome.asp?Chapter=68A-27.

Secondary:
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. “Miami Blue Butterfly.” Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission, myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/invertebrates/miami-blue-butterfly.
Accessed 24 Sept. 2021.

North American Butterfly Association. “Saving South Florida’s Butterflies: Miami Blue Fund.” North
American Butterfly Association, www.naba.org/miamiblue.html. Accessed 24 Sept. 2021.

Morgan, Curtis. “Miami Blue Butterfly to Be Declared Endangered.” Phys.Org, 5 Apr. 2012,
phys.org/news/2012-04-miami-blue-butterfly-declared-endangered.html.

Imagine Our Florida, Inc. “Miami Blue Butterfly.” IMAGINE OUR FLORIDA,
www.imagineourflorida.org/miami-blue-butterfly. Accessed 26 Sept. 2021.

Library of Congress. “How Can You Tell the Difference Between a Butterfly and a Moth?” Library of
Congress Search,
www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/zoology/item/how-can-you-tell-the-difference-between-a-butterfly-and-a-
moth. Accessed 26 Sept. 2021.
“SAVING THE MIAMI BLUE BUTTERFLY.” CENTER for BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY,
www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/invertebrates/Miami_blue_butterfly. Accessed 25 Sept. 2021.

“Parts of a Butterfly.” Butterfly Identification,

www.butterflyidentification.com/butterfly-facts/parts-of-a-butterfly. Accessed 23 Sept. 2021.

“Miami Blue (Cyclargus Thomasi Bethunebakeri).” Butterfly Identification,

www.butterflyidentification.com/miami-blue.htm. Accessed 26 Sept. 2021.

NatureServe. 9/3/2021. NatureServe Explorer.

https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.110859/Cyclargus_thomasi_bethunebakeri.
Accessed 26 Sept. 2021

Saarinen, Emily Virginia, et al. “Genetic Estimates of Contemporary Effective Population Size in an
Endangered Butterfly Indicate a Possible Role for Genetic Compensation.” Research Gate, Jan. 2010,
www.researchgate.net/figure/Historical-range-inset-and-current-locations-of-Miami-blue-butterfly-populatio
ns-BHSP_fig2_227749759