New reserve plan for one of Britain’s most threatened butterflies

One of the UK’s most-threatened butterflies could benefit from a new nature reserve designed to meet its specific needs, according to conservationists.

Butterfly Conservation said opening the reserve in Morecambe Bay could secure the future of the critically-endangered high brown fritillary, which has seen its numbers tumble by almost half in the past decade on top of long-term declines.

The large orange-brown butterfly was once found in woodlands across England and Wales but is now restricted to a few dozen sites in the west of the UK, the wildlife charity said.

It needs specific habitats to survive – areas with fresh clearings that provide warmth for caterpillars and wide woodland corridors that allow the adults to move.

The seven-hectare Myers Allotment reserve is already home to a small population of high brown fritillaries and Butterfly Conservation hopes its work to establish woodland corridors, glades and coppiced areas will boost numbers of the insect. The site, which also attracts other rare species such as the small pearl-bordered fritillary and the northern brown argus, is Butterfly Conservation’s first reserve specifically for the high brown fritillary. Richard Fox, conservation surveys manager, said: “The high brown fritillary is one of the most highly-threatened of British butterflies.