CICADAS RETURN AFTER 30-YEAR ABSENCE

Once considered extinct, the New Forest cicada is back thanks to a new reintroduction project

- Daniel Graham

One of the UK's most elusive insects, the New Forest cicada (Cicadetta montana) has been reintroduced after disappearing from the wild in the 1990s. Eleven females were brought from France to their new home in Hampshire, marking a major step in efforts to restore the insect to its native habitat.

Scientists at the Species Recovery Trust hope some of the new arrivals are already pregnant and will lay their eggs in raspberry canes and hazel saplings in a specially designed enclosure at Paultons Park, near the edge of the New Forest.