LAS VEGAS (AP) — A scarce and endangered butterfly found only on Mount Charleston near Las Vegas is getting a kind of habitat insurance policy, under an agreement between the federal government and a conservation group.
The Center for Biological Diversity said Monday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to designate a little more than 8 square miles in alpine elevations as critical habitat for the Mount Charleston blue butterfly.
Center scientist Tierra Curry says researchers think fewer than 100 of the delicate gray and baby blue insects survive today.
The butterfly is less than an inch long. It's a distinctive subspecies of the wider-ranging Shasta blue butterfly.
It was classified as endangered in October 2013 amid worries that its habitat was being harmed by fires, fire-suppression efforts and development.