A rare return engagement

The Western tailed-blue butterfly (Everes amyntula) hasn’t been seen on the Palos Verdes Peninsula for about three decades, according to science teacher and naturalist Martin Byhower. So when the Chadwick School educator went out last month to test a new camera, he was surprised to find the butterfly at the Forrestal Nature Preserve in Rancho Palos Verdes. “I knew what it had to be when I saw that tail,” Byhower says. “I was pretty excited.” He first photographed a male butterfly, above, on a rattleweed plant and later also spotted a female, indicating the insects may be breeding.