This is one of eight embroidered patches created for the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Complex via the San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society. These patches are awarded to volunteers as they complete a set number of work hours at each Refuge, and are sold at the Visitor’s Center to help raise money to support volunteer efforts.

Each patch represents key species found in one of the seven Refuges, with an additional patch representing the complex as a whole. I worked closely with Refuge biologists to ensure each species was rendered faithfully within the 10-color limit imposed by the embroidery process.

Here, an endangered Lange’s metalmark butterfly (Apodemia mormo langei) floats above a pair of Antioch Dunes evening primrose blooms ((Oenothera deltoides var. howellii, also endangered) in the patch representing Antioch Dunes National Wildlife Refuge.

Established in 1980, Antioch Dunes NWR was once part of an extended riverine sand dune ecosystem which hosted a variety of endemic plants and insects. During the last 150 years, the dune ecosystem was seriously degraded by sand mining, invasive plants, and other threats. Today, the refuge represents one of the last remaining riverine sand dune environments in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta and the only known location in the world where the Lange’s metalmark butterfly is found.