A lepidopeteran (butterfly) that is situated in North America, the Karner Blue took it's common name from the hamlet of Karner in the Albany Pine Bush of New York state. It has a 26 mm wingspan. The
males are a more vibrant
blue, while the
females are a more subdued
shade of
blue.
The Karner Blue was classified by Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov, who also wrote critically acclaimed novels such as Lolita, Pale Fire, and Pnin. Karner Blue butterflies were one of the first animals to be on the endangered species list and was the poster child for the endangered animals list for several years.
The Karner Blue is very reactive to changes in environment and effectively their populations have been decimated by over use of pesticides and other chemicals.The Karner Blue's fight with extinction is directly related to the natural cycles of fire in forests of North America. Naturally, the Karner Blue local populations are lowered by a fire, however there were larger populations spread throughout much of the United States which would be able to cover that drop in population.
Today, however, if fire burns a reduced patch of habitat, there is not likely to be another group of Karners close enough to repopulate the area. Tiny, isolated swaths of territory aren't enough to support populations of Karner Blues. It has been estimated that the Karner's numbers have plummeted by 90 percent over the past decade.
Vladimir Nabokov's work with the Karner Blue is evident in his fiction writing as well. In a rather famous quote from Pnin, "A score of small butterflies, all of one kind, were settled on a damp patch of sand, their wings erect and closed, showing their pale undersides with dark dots and tiny orange-rimmed peacock spots along the hindwing margins' one of Pnin's shed rubbers disturbed some of them and revealing the celestial hue of their upper surface, they fluttered around like blue snowflakes before settling again."