A site for winged creatures, great and small
The postage stamp-sized El Segundo Blue butterfly doesn’t have it easy. With a life span of just a few days to two weeks, it also holds the dubious honor of being the first insect to be named an endangered species. Adding insult to injury, its primary home is the land surrounding the Los Angeles International Airport. Not exactly the ideal environment for butterflies to flourish – and perhaps an even worse place for humans. That wasn’t always the case. In 1928, a popular housing development called Surfridge opened here, just blocks from the beach, offering homes with a view of the sweeping coast next to a modest airfield. That small landing strip would grow to become LAX, the world’s third-busiest airport. And Surfridge lay directly beneath the deafening flight path.
Surfridge residents were forced to move, leaving behind a ghost town. But land in LA rarely lies fallow, whether 67 million jets pass above it annually or not. Enter the El Segundo Blue. The petite butterfly’s habitat once stretched from Pacific Palisades to Santa Monica, until real-estate development claimed every available acre of shoreline. While undesirable for humans to inhabit, the abandoned Surfridge property was deemed a suitable home for the dwindling population of the El Segundo Blue, which feeds on buckwheat found in coastal dunes.
Info
Address Between Dockweiler Beach and Los Angeles International Airport, El Segundo, CA 90245 | Getting there Park near Rindge Avenue and Waterview Street for a quieter walk; metered parking also available on Vista del Mar next to the beach | Hours Always viewable from the walking/bike path surrounding the nature sanctuary,; interior of the preserve closed to visitors| Tip Visit another preserve, the Antelope Valley California Poppy Preserve (15101 Lancaster Road, Lancaster, CA 93536), in springtime, when the brown hills erupt with orange poppies. Experience the Musical Road (see p. 148) on your drive to the Poppy Preserve.
In 1992 the Surfridge land was converted into a 200-acre preserve to protect the Blue. Today, visitors can walk the fenced perimeter and catch a glimpse of the periwinkle-colored butterflies, which shed their cocoons from mid-June to mid-August and enjoy a very brief summer of love. Females lay their eggs under the leaves, which hatch about a week later. The caterpillar phase lasts about a month, followed by a ten-month cocooning period. When the butterflies emerge, the whole dang process starts all over again.
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