Egg hunt reveals record numbers of rare butterflies

LANDOWNERS have given a rare butterfly a major boost by letting their hedgerows grow wild, conservationists have said.

- EMILY BEAMENT Press Association [e-mail]

A brown hairstreak butterfly (thecla betulae) and, inset, its egg

(IAIN H LEACH)

Brown hairstreak butterflies have laid record numbers of eggs in parts of south Wales after hedgerows were protected from annual "flailing" cuts that destroyed a key habitat for them, Butterfly Conservation said.

While the charity says it does not want to stop anyone managing their hedges, it wants to encourage more landowners to try "cutting back on their cutting back" to help a host of wildlife from butterflies to moths, dormice and birds.

The brown hairstreak was once much more common across the UK, but has seen numbers fall significantly as a result of farmers and landowners removing hedgerows and "flailing" to cut hedge growth back, Butterfly Conservation said.

The butterfly will only lay its eggs on young shoots of blackthorn a common bush in hedgerows, which are destroyed by flailing.