Alan Fiero, left, and Kathy O'Brien stand with a butterfly release net in the Albany Pine Bush Preserve. Fiero is a science teacher at Farnsworth Middle School in Guilderland whose class at the middle school raised butterflies for the release. O'Brien is an Endangered Species Unit biologist for the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

COLONIE — More than 1,000 captive-bred Karner blue butterflies, released as chrysalis and emerging as adult butterflies, have nearly doubled the population of the endangered species in the Albany Pine Bush Preserve.

It is the latest in years of habitat restoration efforts by the Albany Pine Bush Commission.

"It was much more successful than we anticipated," said Neil Gifford, the preserve's conservation director, who supervised the project.

The effort to boost the butterfly population in the preserve began in May, when 20 wild female butterflies from the preserve were brought to breeding facilities at New Hampshire Fish and Game Department's Concord facility and at Guilderland's Farnsworth Middle School. Before being released back into the preserve, the females laid about 3,000 eggs in captivity.

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Karner blue butterfly release

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About 1,700 transformed into the tiny, hard-shelled chrysalis and in the second week of July, about 1,000 were released into two separate areas of the preserve that had been restored and where there is enough blue lupine and wildflowers for adult butterflies to nectar on, giving them a good chance of survival.

The chrysalis is the most healthy stage of development and because they are in hard shells, it makes it easier to transport them. There's also an advantage releasing chrysalis because they are more likely to stay in a particular habitat than an adult butterfly.

"We are monitoring the nets and walking the sites to find and locate adult butterflies. We know lots and lots of butterflies emerged," Gifford said.

Karner blue butterflies don't usually fly more than 200 yards in their seven- to 14-day lifespan, and the captive breeding project is being used to accelerate the population of nearly 200 acres of restored habitat and help the recovery of the Karner blue.

"It's important to recognize that it takes time to restore ecosystems and their associated rare species," said David Stilwell, field supervisor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's state field office.

Captive breeding hadn't been done before in the Albany Pine Bush Preserve because there was not enough suitable habitat.

"It's the culmination of habitat management," Gifford said. "The sites had been infested with invasive plants. Here we have gotten rid of invasive species, like black locust, and planted the sites with native plants that are capable of supporting populations of Karner blue butterflies."

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