Wet weather could wipe out Britain’s rarest butterflies – but ours had a fantastic year (From Worcester News)

Wet weather could wipe out Britain’s rarest butterflies – but ours had a fantastic year

11:30am Tuesday 9th March 2010 in

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WHILE some of Britain’s rarest butterflies are facing extinction, Worcestershire’s fluttering populations appear to be thriving.

Despite the disappearance of two rare species from the county, experts believe 2009 was a good year for Worcestershire’s butterflies.

Worcestershire Wildlife Trust’s butterfly expert John Tilt said: “2007 and 2008 were absolutely disastrous for butterflies.

There was a slight improvement in 2008 even when national figures continued to go down, but 2009 was a fantastic year for us.

The numbers were up and it was one of the best years ever at Grafton Wood [near Pershore].”

Latest figures released by the Butterfly Conservation charity last week reveal that five of Britain’s rarest butterflies face a growing risk of extinction. Data collected during 2009 has shown that their numbers have either continued to plummet or remain near rock bottom levels.

Experts believe the very wet weather and above average rainfall during summer months are to blame.

Mr Tilt, who spends 26 weeks a year monitoring trends in butterfly populations all over the Midlands, agreed. He said: “It is heartening to see the numbers going up, but we did have some bad news.

“We had a very wet July, which affected numbers. We didn’t find any high browns on the Malverns and the wood white has gone from Monk Wood.”

Worcestershire Wildlife Trust worked together with Malvern Conservators to keep high brown fritillaries alive on the Malvern Hills but – for the first time since records began – none were spotted in 2009. Volunteers were equally disappointed to discover that there were no wood whites, a delicate and slow flying butterfly, found at Monk Wood, near Hallow, near Worcester.

Heavy rain makes it hard for butterflies to survive.

National experts fear that, following three wet summers, five of the country’s rarest species, including the high brown and wood white, will soon disappear completely.

Dr Tom Brereton, head of monitoring at Butterfly Conservation, 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.”

He said butterflies are important as indicators, alerting us to underlying problems with the environment.

If butterfly numbers are falling, inevitably other wildlife is in decline.

Anyone interested in helping Worcestershire Wildlife Trust maintain the county’s butterfly colonies is asked to call 01905 754919 or visit worcswildlifetrust.co.uk.