Biologist Jana Johnson is restoring the Palos Verdes blue butterfly population, one pupa at a time. She has a crop of 720 this year, split between two captive breeding locations in Southern California. Only about 200 Palos Verdes blues exist in the wild today, but that’s up from 50 in 2003. Johnson coaxes butterflies out of their pupae casings, plays them inspirational music (such as “Defying Gravity” from the musical “Wicked”), and feeds them honey water and Fierce Melon Gatorade (scientifically proven to be preferred by the Miami blue butterfly). Eventually she hopes to have enough of a population to start establishing multiple new colonies in the great outdoors.