March 29, Joshua Tree National Park conducted its annual butterfly count. Local volunteers and park staff worked to catalog species found inside the park. This year, researchers were rewarded for their continuing efforts when they found several mallow scrub-hairstreaks (Strymon istapa) near the Cottonwood area. This is a new butterfly species for the park, whose primary range is from Mexico south to Brazil with only a few U.S. populations along the southern border in California, Texas, and Florida. In California, this butterfly species is found mainly in San Diego and Imperial counties with only a few records in other adjacent counties. More information on the rare butterly follow the link in this story at Z1077fm.com
