A Tale of Two City Butterflies

The small county of San Francisco has 34 breeding species of butterflies. For lepidopterist Liam O'Brien, every one of these urban survivors has a remarkable story. Liam will focus on the county's two largest butterfly species: the Western Tiger Swallowtail and the Monarch. Remarkably, the former, perhaps the most celebrated butterfly on the planet, has adapted to the city's grandest boulevard: Market Street. Liam will also talk about the legislation proposed to protect these species within the county.

Liam O'Brien's life changed forever when a butterfly flew into his Duboce Triangle yard in the late 1990s. He surveyed the entire county of San Francisco in 2007 and again in 2009. He proposed the idea of the highly successful Green Hairstreak Project to Nature in the City in 2008. His first book (coauthored with GGAS member Matthew Zlatunich), The Butterflies of San Francisco, was published by the Presidio Trust.