Courtesy Photo/Michigan DNR Karner blue butterfly poses on a raspberry blossom at Allegan State Game Area, spring 2024.

Next week, June 16-22, is National Pollinator Week, making it the perfect time to talk about one of North America’s rarest butterflies: the Karner blue.

This federally endangered and (Michigan) threatened pollinator faces a challenging journey for survival, but collaborative conservation efforts between the DNR and the Michigan Natural Features Inventory are helping to sustain their habitat at Allegan State Game Area in southwestern Michigan.

A relatively small butterfly, with a wingspan measuring no more than an inch, the Karner blue feeds exclusively on wild blue lupine, a native, fire-dependent, perennial wildflower often found in oak savannas and barrens. Karner blue butterflies are an important indicator of healthy, specialized habitats, and conservation of those habitats helps protect other plants and pollinators that also thrive in these rare ecosystems.

As Michigan celebrates 50 years of endangered species law, a milestone marking decades of dedicated partnerships and efforts to protect our state’s most vulnerable plants and animals, this little butterfly represents a big hope for continued conservation success.