As the California pipevine plant was displaced from San Francisco by urban sprawl, the California pipevine swallowtail, which relies on the pipevine plant to feed its caterpillars, also disappeared. That is, until a biologist named Tim Wong made it his mission to repopuplate the species in his own backyard.
Armed only with a cutting of California pipevine from the San Francisco Botanical Garden, Tim created a screened in butterfly enclosure in his backyard and began to reproduce California pipevines.
As new butterflies were born, Tim would donate them to the San Francisco Botanical Gardens where their pipevine host plant could still be found.
“At first he brought them in by the hundreds. Now he brings them in by the thousands every few months.”
While most of us don’t have the power to create habitat for endangered rhinos or tigers, anyone with a little bit of outdoor space can help create habitat for endangered insects!
You can:
-plant a pollinator garden with native nectar-producing plants
-plant host plants of local butterfly species
-leave piles of fallen leaves or sticks in your yard as habitat for native bees
-avoid using pesticides (or use them as sparingly as possible) around your home and yard
“Improving habitat for native fauna is something anyone can do. Conservation and stewardship can start in your very own backyard.” -Tim Wong
These 26th-century BC structures are made from limestone, with granite also used in the pyramids (tombs for the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt). At left is the pyramid of the pharaoh Khafre.
The Great Sphinx, dating to the same period, is a statue of a mythical creature with the face of a man and the body of a lion. Carved out of the surrounding bedrock, it has a height of 20 meters.
The lower portions of the Great Sphinx, covered by desert sands, were excavated several times in the 19th century. Khafre’s Pyramid reaches a height of 143 meters. This view, by the photographer
Félix Teynard, was published in 1851.
