Norma Cogar Memorial Wildlife Center

IUCN Red LIst Categories

What is the IUCN Red List?

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) is one of if not the leader in conservation worldwide. The Red List is the list of animals that are on the brink of extinction in the world. Below you can see a small description of each category on the Red List that NCMWC will use on this page. Please note that we are not including animals or plants within the following categories:

Data Deficeint (DD), Extinct in the Wild (EW), Extinct (EX), Not Evaluated (NE)

If you would like to use their categories, please ensure that you are noting that all of the categories were collected by crediting them using IUCN 2022-2.

Least Concern (LC)

These species have not qualified for listing as a species that may be in peril.

Near Threatened (NT)

These species are becoming troubled by human activies or environmental conditions but have not quite reached the level of certain concern for extinction.

Vulnerable (VU)

Species listed in this category are found to be facing extinction if conservation efforts are not started. There is still a fair amount of the species left, but those numbers are declining rapidly.

Endangered (EN)

Species in this category are facing a very serious threat of extinction. Conservation efforts are needed immediately to avoid extinction.

Critically Endangered (CE)

Speices in this category are facing an extremely high risk of extinction. Some of these species may in fact be extinct already but this has yet to be confirmed.

Special Note

We may use the NatureServe status for some species. The listings are similar, but may use different names.

Karner Blue Butterfly

NatureServe Listing: Critically Imperiled

Range: The Karner blue lives in oak savannas and pine barren ecosystems from western Wisconsin and eastward to the Atlantic seaboard. Historically, it was found in a continuous band throughout its range, but today is found in portions of New Hampshire, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio.

What is Causing The Concern?

Wild blue lupine (Lupinus perennis) is the only plant Karner blue larvae, or caterpillars, can eat. Even so, the range of these butterflies and that of their host plant do not completely overlap. Instead, Karner blue butterfly are found predominantly along the northern band of wild lupine's range.
Habitat Loss: The now rare habitats these beautiful butterflies inhabit are being destroyed by accidental wildfires and human development.
Climate and Weather Changes: Global temperature changes and the rising number of severe weather events including drought, tornadoes, and hurricanes, has caused further reduction in the food source of the catepillars of these beautiful creatures

How Can I Help?

Reduce the use of chemical insecticides on your garden plants.
Reduce, reuse, recycle
Virtually any conservation activity can help these beautiful creatures!

Additional Information

Much of the information above was taken from the Federal Wildlife Service webpage for this creature.

Please visit https://www.fws.gov/species/karner-blue-butterfly-lycaeides-melissa-samuelis for more from the FWS

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Some photos may be used from various un-named sources with permission of the creators of the photos.

The use of the IUCN Redlist categories and logo on the Species Spotlight page are allowed by the IUCN Redlist. All IUCN data is consistant with update IUCN 2022-2

We may also use the listings created by NatureServe if an IUCN rating is unavailable.

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