The Marianas euploea butterfly
(Euploea eleutho) was endemic to the
Mariana Islands and was historically
recorded from Guam, Rota, Saipan, and
the northern islands of Alamagan and
Anatahan. It was common on Guam in
1936, but has not been collected from
Guam, Rota, or Saipan since 1946.
Surveys in 1995 confirmed that it is
extinct on these southern islands. In the
1970’s, this butterfly was recorded on
Alamagan and Anatahan. Members of a
recent Japanese entomological
expedition initially believed that they
had rediscovered this species on some
of the small, remote northern Mariana
Islands. However, their collections
proved to be a different species. The
Japanese entomologists’ failure to locate
the Marianas euploea butterfly, despite
the thoroughness of their search for
butterflies, is the basis for the Service
considering that this species is currently
extinct throughout its range. Because it
is believed to be extinct, this species is
being removed from the list of
candidates.
www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-1997-09-19/pdf/97-24806.pdfmoved to extinct
