Mission Blue butterfly (Icaricia icariodes missionensis)

Mission Blue butterfly (male) on rattlesnake grass. The Mission Blue was one of the first insects added to the federal endangered species list, in 1976. Image photographed in the Marin Headlands near habitat restoration work to save this butterfly from extinction. Rattlesnake grass (Briza maxima) is a native California species found in select coastal areas. I was privileged to be able to visit the area with a ranger from the Golden Gate National Parks conservancy.

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