Large Blue Butterfly, declared extinct in the UK in 1979, now thriving after reintroduction

Alessandra Kelley

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https://www.theguardian.com/environ...butterfly-thriving-in-uk-since-reintroduction

A butterfly once pronounced extinct in the UK has been seen in record numbers this year, according to conservationists.

There were over 10,000 adult large blue butterflies in Gloucestershire and Somerset – the largest concentration of the species known in the world.

The Large Blue Butterfly has an unusual, carnivorous life cycle:

Having fed for three weeks on the flowerbuds of wild thyme or marjoram, the caterpillar produces scents and songs that trick red ants into believing it is one of their own grubs and is carried underground into the ants’ nest and placed with the ant brood.

The caterpillar spends the next 10 months feeding on the grubs before pupating in the nest the following year and then emerging to crawl above ground as a butterfly.
 

Jerboa

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I'm lucky enough that one of the sites for the Large Blue is only twenty mins away from me. Here's a picture I took of a female - she was laying her eggs on the thyme.

12522936_10153383387455893_23975042244197726_n.jpg
 

Jerboa

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Thank you. I love butterflies. I'm aiming to photograph every species we have in the UK - have managed 33 so far (though I've seen 34) of the 59 we have here.
 

Alessandra Kelley

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https://www.theguardian.com/environ...rare-butterflies-was-seen-with-net-at-reserve

Philip Cullen, a butterfly trader, has been found guilty of unlawfully collecting and killing large blue butterflies.

A police raid found two dead large blues in his house after nature reserve volunteers saw him acting suspiciously in areas where large blues had been reintroduced.

Bristol magistrates were told the large blue became extinct in the 1970s and has been reintroduced to a few sites. The panel heard there was a market for large blues, which sell for up to £300 a butterfly when they are mounted and made to look like Victorian specimens.

There are 59 species of butterflies in the UK. Of these, 25 are afforded some kind of protection and six, including the large blue, are fully protected, meaning they cannot be collected, killed or sold.

Cullen will be sentenced next month.