Butterfly back from extinction

The large blue butterfly commonly referred to as the large blue has made its return to Britain even though it became extinct to the region in 1979 due to a massive reintroduction effort that will bring approximately 20,000 of the species to the countryside.

This week it celebrates its 25th anniversary as there are now more present in the country than back in the 1950’s.

Large blues were thought to have been erased by overzealous butterfly hunters but studies conducted by Jeremy Thomas at Oxford University how that the butterfly actually became extinct due to the demise of grazed hillsides and meadows which is the area the insect called home alongside red ants.

According to Sir David Attenborough, the ability of the efforts to bring the blue butterfly back to Britain shows the power that advanced ecological research can have towards remedying environmental damage.

Large blues are closely tied to areas with red ants since they eat the ants’ food to survive. As caterpillars are able to release a chemical out of their skin which makes the red ants think they are lost grubs so that they are taken into the nests where they eat until spring when they emerge as butterflies.

The second World War may have lead to the death of the butterflies in the area as the hills they lived in became overgrown making it inhabitable to the ants who house the caterpillars so when the ants left he butterflies died out.

Other theories suggest that rabbits once kept the hillsides grazed but when the rabbit species declined in the 50’s due to a rabbit plague the grass may grown out.

As part of the restoration efforts, the fields have been trimmed down and ants were released into the area as well as new blue caterpillars.

Although the large blues are back, there is more work to be done as Dr. Nigel Bourn from the Butterfly Conservation group stated that 70% of other butterfly species are currently on the decline.