Rare butterfly found breeding in Scotland for first time in 130 years

Eggs laid by white-letter hairstreak found on elm trees in Berwickshire

Patrick Barkham

Thu 15 Feb 2018 07.01 GMTLast modified on Thu 15 Feb 2018 07.03 GMT

The microscopic eggs of an endangered butterfly have been found in Scotland, suggesting the insect has returned to breed in the country for the first time in more than 130 years.

Lepidopterists discovered white-letter hairstreak eggs on wych elm trees at Lennel, Berwickshire, this month after an adult butterfly was spotted last summer 10 miles away – the first sighting in Scotland since 1884.

“Last year was an impossible find, but this year’s egg discovery is beyond anything we thought possible,” said Iain Cowe, butterfly recorder for the Borders, who found the adult butterfly last summer.

While most butterflies hibernate as caterpillars, the white-letter hairstreak spends nine months of the year as an egg, which is smaller than a grain of salt and stuck to slender branches of elm.

The eggs were detected by Jill Mills and Ken Haydock, volunteers for Butterfly Conservation who travelled from Bolton to scour trees in the Borders.

“We were searching the elm trees by the River Tweed at Lennel when Jill called me over,” said Haydock. “I could see by the look on her face that she had found something.

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Rare butterfly spotted in Scotland for the first time since 1884

Elusive and endangered white-letter hairstreak discovered in a field in the Scottish borders could become the 34th species to live and breed in the country

Patrick Barkham

Thursday 17 August 2017 16.40 BSTLast modified on Thursday 17 August 2017 22.00 BST

Scotland has a new species of butterfly: the elusive and endangered white-letter hairstreak has been discovered in a field in Berwickshire, 100 metres from the English border.

It is the first time since 1884 that the butterfly has been sighted in Scotland, raising hopes that climate change has helped it become the 34th butterfly species to live and breed in the country.

“Climate change is a double-edged sword but it’s an exciting time to be in the Scottish borders,” said Paul Kirkland of Butterfly Conservation Scotland. “It’s not just butterflies but moths and dragonflies are moving north quite quickly.”

More than a quarter of Britain’s 59 butterfly species are spreading north, with insects such as the comma moving about six miles each year. In recent years, butterflies that were once only found in southern Britain have crossed the border in Scotland, including the comma and the small and Essex skippers. Within Scotland, species such as the ringlet, orange tip and peacock have moved rapidly north and into the Highlands.

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'Extinct' butterfly found in Cornwall – via Kithra

An endangered butterfly has been discovered at two sites in Cornwall more than 20 years after it is believed to have become extinct in the county.

A survey by Butterfly Conservation has found White-letter Hairstreak eggs at Torpoint and Tideford.

It was thought the species had been killed off by the Dutch Elm Disease outbreak in the early 1990s.

Butterfly Conservation Cornwall's, Andy Carey said it was possible the species had managed to "cling on".

According to the Wildlife Trust, the White-letter Hairstreak is estimated to have suffered a 99% population decline over the last 25 years in the UK.

The butterfly relies on Elm as its caterpillar foodplant but had declined across much of the UK following the "devastating impact" of Dutch Elm Disease.

Conservationists claim that the eggs found in south east Cornwall could suggest the butterfly may have moved from neighbouring colonies on the Devon side of the River Tamar.

Mr Carey said if it had managed to stay in Cornwall at all, it would have been "lurking around the tops of perhaps some quite remote Elm trees where it could well have clung on in a small focused colony".

Butterfly Conservation had been considering re-introducing the butterfly, not seen in Cornwall since 1991, and had called in experts to conduct egg surveys in selected areas.

Mr Carey said a couple of extremely experienced entomologists who were "really interested in this particular species" had "been out looking for it" and failed to find the White-letter Hairstreak, which is why it was thought to be extinct.

"The county is very large and it is very difficult to cover it all, and it's quite possible that it has been overlooked all this time."

Butterfly Conservation Cornwall said that this summer it would be making a "concerted effort" to get to as many Elm trees as possible to see how many more specimens could be found.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-21857802