Silver Studded Blue butterfly found on Devon reserve for first time in 20 years

Silver studded blue butterflies have been found on Bystock nature reserve fo rthe first time for 20 years. Credit devon Wildlife Trust.

Rare butterfly flutters to Bystock nature reserve

August 2009. Devon Wildlife Trust (DWT) has found rare silver studded blue butterflies on its Bystock nature reserve, near Exmouth, for the first time in 20 years.

The rare butterfly, a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, was spotted not on its traditional heathland habitat but on the south facing grassland to the north of the reserve.

Migrated from adjacent sites
The butterfly had been known to exist on the adjacent land owned by Clinton Devon Estates but had until now not managed to colonise the Trust's site. The species is known not to disperse well and is usually seen in flight during July and August.

Matt Boydell, DWT's Land Management Manager managed to catch the butterflies mating on the site, he said: "This is really exciting discovery for us. It really demonstrates that with the right amount of effort and support it is possible to help these rare species to spread further. We have to thank our regular volunteers who have helped to improve the site over the past few years and open up areas for the silver studded blue to move through to the reserve. "

A lot of the work on site to improve it for the rare heathland species has been thanks to funding from Natural England's Stewardship Scheme.

Allison Wallis from Natural England said: "We are delighted to be able to continue to support the work carried out by DWT to manage this integral part of the East Devon Pebblebed Heath SSSI. The presence of the Silver Studded Blue proves that all the hard work to increase habitat diversity of the site is working!"