Photo by Dana Ross
Taylor's Checkerspot
The Taylor's checkerspot (Euphydryas editha taylori) is a medium-sized,
colorfully checkered butterfly with a wingspan less than 2.25 inches.
Before its dramatic decline, the Taylor's checkerspot was documented at
more than seventy sites in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. These
sites included coastal and inland grasslands on southern Vancouver Island
and surrounding islands in British Columbia and the San Juan Island archipelago
(USA), as well as open prairies and balds in Washington's Puget Trough
and Oregon's Willamette Valley. We are now certain of the existence of
only fourteen sites, most of which contain fewer than fifty individuals
based on surveys conducted between 2002 and 2004. The species is in serious
decline, which is best exemplified by (1) the loss of more than 99% of
its habitat, (2) its recent extirpation from British Columbia and (3)
the recent loss of a Washington site that in 1997 had close to 7,000 individuals.
Taylor's
checkerspot listing petition (pdf format).
Information on the latest sitings of Taylor's checkerspot in Oregon.