Samoa Conservation Society and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment have begun work to bring back a butterfly species that went extinct in Samoa over 40 years ago.

The Samoan swallowtail butterfly, or Pepe Ae, as it is known in Samoan, was last seen in Samoa in 1979, the S.C.S. President James Atherton told Radio Australia in an interview last Thursday. 

The butterfly is the largest of the country's 30 known species and while it is extinct in Samoa, it can still be found in American Samoa.

"We have 30 butterfly species but the Swallowtail butterfly or the Pepe Ae in Samoan was the biggest, 10 centimetres across, beautiful, big blackish butterfly with kind of white spots in it and also red on wings so its quite stunning butterfly last seen in independent Samoa in 1979 so what is that, 40 odd years ago," Mr. Atherton said.

According to the S.C.S. President, a team from Samoa, comprising S.C.S. staff as well as officials from Samoa's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (M.N.R.E.) travelled to American Samoa a fortnight ago to begin the preliminary work, which Mr. Atherton hopes would one day see the butterfly return to Samoa.

"But the beauty of it, is it still exists in American Samoa, and we went there two weeks ago, a team of us from Samoa Conservation Society and our main partner, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. We went to American Samoa's Tuituilla and we saw it and we saw every stage of it. 

"And our host over there, the American Samoa Community College have been doing work on this butterfly for a number of years, and they are now documenting where it lives and every stage of its lifestyle, even trying to propagate it."

Mr. Atherton told Radio Australia that discussions have started on a breeding program, which is already underway in American Samoa, but he is hopeful that the conditions in Samoa will be conducive for the butterfly to be brought over. 

"One day we hope to reintroduce the Pepe Ae back to Samoa," Mr Atherton said. "Hopefully one day If we have the conditions right here, on independent Samoa where I live, and Savai'i, one day our dream is to bring it back to where it was 40-odd years ago."