Requiem for small creatures
2018 - present
Glaucopsyche xerces
Xerces blue butterfly, female (left) and male (right)
Each loss diminishes the rest of life because we all are connected.
And we wonder where all these losses will lead, and how much of the earth we can use up before one of us is looking around and wondering,
“Where are all the others?”
The last Xerces blue butterfly died in the early 1940s. What it was like to be the last, to fly over the dunes near San Francisco looking for the others?
The extinction of the Xerces blue is attributed to human development. We killed all the lotus plants, the only food source for the larval Xerces.
Photographed at the Essig Museum, UC Berkeley
With this project I hope to honor the lives and mark the passing of an often overlooked class of animals, Insecta.
Scientific evidence indicates we are witnessing a massive extinction of insects, and one long-term study estimates we have lost 40 percent of their biomass. I hope to serve as a witness and documentarian of this sad state. Millions of insect species inhabit the world, but there are not enough entomologists or funding to record them all, or even to document the loss of entire species. But I can gather information from museums and other collections on insects that have disappeared from the planet in “recent” history, or that are critically endangered or suspected to be extinct, into a photographic record, which currently does not exist.
Some people wonder why we should care that we’ve lost insect species when so many are left. Others of us feel each loss diminishes the rest of life on earth. We all are connected.
I aim to emphasize the importance of biodiversity and the link between insect and human life, and to raise awareness of actions we can take to promote insect survival. I am working on gaining permission to photograph collections throughout the world and seeking funding to carry out this ambitious project. I also plan to contribute my photographs to public databases such as the Encyclopedia of Life.
Megalagrion jugorum
Maui upland damselfly
No one knows exactly when the last Maui upland damselfly died, but some of the few remaining specimens, collected in 1899, are kept at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.
Many damselflies in the Hawaiian Islands were killed off or are threatened by the introduction of non-native fish to control mosquitoes.
Photographed at the Bishop Museum, Honolulu
Polyphylla barbata
Mount Hermon June beetle
The Mount Hermon June beetle is listed as critically imperiled. The last group of beetles reside in the Zayante sand hills, an area in the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco. They are threatened by habitat loss due to sand mining and development. Most of their remaining habitat is privately owned.
Photographed at the Essig Museum, UC Berkeley
Speyeria callippe callippe
Callippe silverspot butterfly
The Callippe silverspot butterfly is listed as critically imperiled, with the last two communities living just south of San Francisco.
Their demise has been brought about by human activity, specifically habitat loss and introduced plants in San Francisco, Berkeley and Alameda.
Photographed at the Essig Museum, UC Berkeley
Agrotis photophila
Light-loving noctuid moth
Not much is known, or ever will be, about this extinct moth that lived on the island of Oahu.
The last one was seen in 1900.
Photographed at the Bishop Museum, Honolulu
Cicindela latesignata obliviosa
Tiger beetle/Western beach tiger beetle
Once living in California, the Western Beach tiger beetle is considered extinct. For many reasons, it’s difficult to determine the status of an insect, and many may be extinct or critically endangered without having the official designation. For one thing, insects are usually quite small and hard to see. Second, there aren’t enough entomologists or funding for proper studies. Species could exist and become extinct without humans ever knowing.
Photographed at the Bishop Museum, Honolulu
Drosophila lanaiensis
Lanai pomace fly
This small creature is extinct, although it once lived in Hawaii.
When a plant or animal disappears from the earth, it’s impossible to know what other species are affected.
The benefits and consequences of this little fly’s existence may never be known.
Photographed at the Bishop Museum, Honolulu
Lycaeides idas lotis
Lotis blue butterflies, male and female
Lotis blue butterflies are critically imperiled or extinct, although they once lived near Mendocino, California.
According to the Xerces Society, the reasons for the demise of the Lotis blue are unknown, but possible causes are climate change and the resulting death of the plants the butterflies required for sustenance as well as habitat loss.
They were last seen in 1994.
Photographed at the Essig Museum, UC Berkeley