The Fish and Wildlife Service proposed Thursday to protect a rare Jamaican butterfly as an endangered species.
Listing the striking blue, black and red butterfly known as the Jamaican kite swallowtail would restrict U.S. imports of the insect, which it is already illegal to kill in Jamaica.
The kite swallowtail is regarded as the most endangered butterfly in Jamaica, with an estimated population of 50 to 250 individuals, according to a Federal Register notice scheduled to be published Friday.
“U.S. safeguards for the butterfly will ensure that these beautiful swallowtails can’t be sold in the United States,” said Dianne DuBois, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement. The organization’s 2021 lawsuit prompted this week’s proposed listing after the species sat on the candidate species waitlist for 30 years.
