(This content was created with the help of AI.) One very small death in Albuquerque may signal a much bigger problem. The last known Sacramento Mountains checkerspot caterpillar in captivity has been declared dead, leaving scientists unsure whether the rare butterfly still survives anywhere in the wild, reports the New York Times.
The caterpillar, raised at ABQ BioPark in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from one of more than 160 offspring produced by four wild-caught butterflies in 2022, never completed its metamorphosis, despite living longer than expected.
Researchers tried inducing hibernation and slowly warming it this spring, but the insect never woke; they called its death on May 5…