Can species reintroductions be successful? The story of the lucky butterflies (part 1: Large Blues)
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Large Blue history The UK's population of Large Blue butterfly ( Phengaris arion ) has always been rare, and sadly declined until it went extinct in 1979. However, it's conservation and reintroduction has been a major success story in invertebrate conservation. Large Blue butterflies mating at Daneway Banks (June 2023) In June 2023, I was lucky enough to join a joint field meeting of the Royal Entomological Society (RES) and the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) to see the success of the Large Blue reintroduction project at Daneway Banks SSSI (Gloucestershire). This population is not only the largest UK population, but also the largest population globally (since 2019)! BSBI and RES field meeting at Daneway (17th June 2023) The Large Blue relies on the red ant Myrmica sabuleti to complete its lifecycle. The decline of these ants in the 60s-70s resulted in the 1979 Large Blue UK extinction. These ants cannot build mounds to reach suitable microclimates (heat) un