Reintroduction of butterfly in England a ‘success’

Chequered Skipper credit: butterfly conservation trust

The reintroduction of a species of butterfly that went extinct in England nearly 50 years ago has been declared a success.

The chequered skipper was always scarce but died out in 1976 with changes to woodland management being blamed.

In 2018, ecologists brought a donor population of the insects from Belgium to Fineshade Wood near Corby, Northamptonshire, in a bid to re-establish the species.

The Butterfly Conservation charity, which oversaw the project, said the results were “very exciting” and demonstrated how humans can restore natural environments.

The news is a welcome boost for the charity after it announced its worst-ever results in its annual Big Butterfly Count in September.

Up until the 1950s, the chequered skipper was still locally common in damp woods and fens in the East Midlands.

But a decline in coppicing and maintaining long narrow tracks or bridleways, as well as a rise in conifer plantations which did not suit the butterfly, led to the loss of the species in England.

When the chequered skippers were first reintroduced, their location was kept secret.

Susannah O’Riordan from Butterfly Conservation said the project had been a “real experiment” but would now “inform future reintroductions and all kinds of conservation projects – for butterflies and beyond”.

Fineshade Wood, which is part of the 200-sq-mile (520-sq-km) Rockingham Forest, was chosen to host the reintroduction due to its sunny habitat being favourable.

In total, 128 butterflies – 101 females and 27 males – were imported and five years of research has proven that the insects were breeding successfully.

Butterfly Conservation said more than 350 individual chequered skippers have been counted and numbers had increased year on year.

Dr Nigel Bourn, the charity’s chief scientist, said: “This project shows us that restoring wildlife is possible, but only if we put in dedicated and sustained effort to tackle the reasons the species went extinct in the first place.”

Read the Bugs Matter Round-up

Citizen scientists across the UK buzzed into action for Bugs Matter this summer

The end of summer saw the conclusion of this year’s national insect survey, Bugs Matter, on 30 September.

Bugs Matter, led by conservation charities Buglife and Kent Wildlife Trust, is one of the UK’s few long-term citizen science surveys of flying insect abundance, generating critically important data.

This year saw greater participation than ever before, with a total of 8,850 journeys made, covering over 250,000 miles. Lots more people joined in the survey too – 188 new participants joined the effort to provide crucial data on flying insect numbers.

Citizen scientists in England recorded the greatest number of journeys (7,501 journeys), followed by those in Scotland (737 journeys), Wales (367 journeys) and Northern Ireland (220 journeys).

The 2024 survey season was extended by two months to better understand the impacts of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns on the abundance and activity of flying insects in the warmer months. Insects play a fundamental role in ecosystems, pollinating plants, breaking down and recycling waste, and providing food for many animals – therefore, understanding how their populations are changing is essential to inform conservation efforts. Without insects, life on Earth would collapse.

The end of this year’s Bugs Matter survey coincides with the recent release of Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count results which indicated the lowest numbers on record for most butterfly species, as well as the Bumblebee Conservation Trust’s announcement that 2024 has been the worst year on record for Britain’s bumblebees. Last year, Bugs Matter recorded the fewest insect splats in its history. All these surveys provide strong evidence that insects are in severe decline, echoing trends reported globally, and there is an urgent need to restore nature to help insect populations to recover.

Dr Lawrence Ball, Lead Data Analyst at Kent Wildlife Trust, said: “We’re over-the-moon that so many journeys were recorded this year, generating vital data for our analysis. Our regulars turned up and it’s great that we got so many new users as well. I’m pleased we have another season’s data under our belts. Each year, we are building stronger evidence to help understand, protect and restore invertebrates.” 

Andrew Whitehouse from Buglife said: “Huge thanks to everyone who has got involved in the Bugs Matter survey in 2024, you have all helped to gather the vital data that we all need to better understand the health of our insect populations, and ultimately our environment.” 

The success of Bugs Matter would not have been possible without the dedication of thousands of citizen scientists from across the UK. This year also saw a new partnership with Openreach, where 65 drivers in their vehicle fleet recorded 734 journeys and their splat counts for Bugs Matter. Other businesses with vehicle fleets are encouraged to follow Openreach’s lead in joining the annual survey. The inclusion of corporate fleets can significantly enhance the scope and volume of data collected, giving us a clearer picture of what is happening to our insect populations.

Following on from the shocking results of Bugs Matter 2023, which found a 78% reduction in the number of insects sampled on vehicle number plates across the UK between 2004 and 2023, the data collected from this year’s survey will now undergo extensive analysis.

The full results are set to be published next spring – in advance of the Bugs Matter 2025 survey season.

For more information about Bugs Matter, find out here.

 

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