The washout summers of the last three years have brought Britain’s most endangered butterflies to the brink of extinction, a study reveals.Two of the UK’s rarest species – the Duke of Burgundy and Lulworth skipper – had their worst years on record in 2009, according to the annual survey by Butterfly Conservation.
Other endangered butterflies, such as the wood white and pearlbordered fritillary, have also hit new lows, the charity warns.
Butterflies are unable to fly if the rain is too heavy, and were badly hit by last year’s wet July and August, which followed two abysmally wet summers in 2007 and 2008.
The findings, which come from a study of butterflies at more than 1,000 sites, show that the Duke of Burgundy had its worst year in more than 30 years. The orange, brown and white butterfly used to be a common sight in woodland clearings.
However, it has been damaged by changes in farming and woodland management over the last half a century, leading numbers to drop by a staggering 60 per cent in the last 20 years.
The orange and brown Lulworth skipper – one of Britain’s smallest butterflies – also suffered its worst 12 months last year.
Numbers have fallen 78 per cent in 18 years, the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme run by Butterfly Conservation and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology showed.
Other rare species including the pearl-bordered fritillary, the high brown fritillary and the wood white are continuing to struggle after severe declines since the 1970s.
Dr Tom Brereton, Butterfly Conservation’s head of monitoring, said: ‘We are particularly concerned about the Duke of Burgundy.
‘At the start of the century, there were about 200 colonies in the country. This number has now more than halved – and most colonies that remain are small. It is a serious situation.’
Butterfly Conservation said the creatures made only a ‘modest recovery’ after their worst summer for 25 years in 2008.
The bad weather over the past few years has compounded longterm problems facing insects. They have suffered from the loss of grasslands rich in wild flowers, while pesticides and intensive farming have also hit their numbers.
Conservationists warn that if butterfly numbers are falling, other wildlife will also be in decline.
source: dailymail
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