As GNN has reported before, Britain loves her butterflies, and this black-veined beauty is getting special attention as it prepares to re-establish itself across the island.
Extinct in the UK since the early 20th century due to land-use changes and habitat loss, the black-veined white butterfly seems set for a return thanks to a reintroduction project.
The work has been organized by the Knepp Wildland Foundation, the nonprofit arm of Britain’s most famous rewilding project on Knepp Estate in West Sussex, where a struggling landowner turned his family’s failing ancestral farm into one of the most biodiverse places in England.
The mosaic of newly-naturalized wooded grasslands teems with animals, including large concentrations of endangered birds like nightingales, and insect species like the purple emperor butterfly.
The black-veined white butterfly is still widespread across continental Europe, and for the reintroduction program larvae were flown to Knepp in special containers that would allow them to overwinter on the estate and acclimatize to conditions in Britain.
The work was supported by Ambios Ltd, Butterfly Conservation, The Zoological Society of London, and Natural England.
Early signs suggest the insects are doing well, growing as would be expected on hawthorn and blackthorn shrubs that make up their diet and habitat. This is especially encouraging since, according to Bird Guides UK, several attempts to reintroduce this butterfly have failed.
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Prior to the importation, Knepp Wildland Trust carried out extensive climate and environment studies to ascertain whether conditions at the estate and across Britain more broadly would be appropriate for these Lepidopterans after such a long absence.
If all goes the plan, future operations will try to connect the population to ancestral hotspots like Devon and the south coast.
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