Picture supply, Essex Wildlife TrustImage caption, Document numbers of heath fritillary butterflies have been counted at an Essex nature reserve, a wildlife belief saysArticle informationAuthor, Brian FarmerRole, BBC Essex25 June 2024Record numbers of a butterfly as soon as near extinction have been recorded at a nature reserve, a wildlife belief has mentioned.The Essex Wildlife Belief mentioned 218 heath fritillary butterflies had been counted at Pound Wooden Nature Reserve close to Hadleigh, Essex, this 12 months.Employees mentioned the earlier file on the reserve, which is very managed to encourage the butterfly’s restoration, was 148 in 2019.Experiences confirmed that 80% of the UK’s butterfly species had declined prior to now 50 years, the belief mentioned.Picture supply, Essex Wildlife TrustImage caption, Heath fritillaries are solely present in specialised habitats, a wildlife belief says”The heath fritillary butterfly was as soon as near extinction within the UK, however due to conservation efforts, numbers are on the rise,” mentioned a belief spokeswoman.”This 12 months, 218 have been recorded at Pound Wooden Nature Reserve in south Essex, making it the very best quantity the belief has seen up to now.”The spokeswoman mentioned: “Beforehand, file numbers of 148 heath fritillary butterflies have been introduced in 2019.”Picture supply, Essex Wildlife TrustImage caption, The heath fritillary butterfly was as soon as near extinction within the UKHeath fritillaries have been solely present in specialised habitats, she mentioned.She mentioned they have been solely discovered from Might to July and most well-liked sunny, heat and sheltered environments.”Colonies of this delicate butterfly occupy sheltered and coppiced woodland within the south-east of England the place their larval meals plant, widespread cow-wheat is current,” she mentioned.”The belief, alongside devoted volunteers, have been rigorously managing historical woodland to take care of this specialised habitat for over a decade.”She added: “Regardless of this success story, studies present that 80% of the UK’s butterfly species have declined in abundance and/or distribution within the final 50 years.”Picture supply, Essex Wildlife TrustImage caption, The heath fritillary butterfly’s “larval meals plant” is widespread cow-wheatWhat will we learn about heath fritillary butterflies?The uncommon heath fritillary was getting ready to extinction within the Nineteen Seventies, however conservation motion turned its fortunes aroundIt remains to be confined to a small variety of websites within the south of EnglandThe butterfly is restricted to a “few key habitats” – primarily coppiced woodland or sheltered heathlandIt might be seen flying near the bottom in a “distinctive flutter-and-glide sample”The heath fritillary lives in a small variety of websites in Somerset, Devon, Cornwall and Kent, and has been reintroduced in EssexIt not often strays from its predominant breeding groundsThe heath fritillary is variable in color and the wing sample, nevertheless it largely shows a dusky, orange-and-brown chequered patternIt is protected within the UK beneath the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act Supply: Essex Wildlife Belief GuideImage supply, Essex Wildlife TrustImage caption, Greater than 200 heath fritillary butterflies have been counted at Pound Wooden Nature Reserve this yearThe Essex Wildlife Belief mentioned it had launched “Butterfly Seekers” in 2023, a “citizen science” marketing campaign which information butterflies in Essex. “Between March and September, the general public are requested to file any butterfly they see in Essex on an app,” added the spokeswoman.”These information might be used to tell conservation efforts for butterflies in Essex, with the purpose of recovering extra species, alongside the heath fritillaries.”Extra on this story