Endangered large blue butterfly successfully reintroduced in Britain

The insects bred and laid eggs in the first year, writes Emily Goddard

(PA)

A globally endangered butterfly that was once extinct in Britain has been recorded at Rodborough Common in Gloucestershire for the first time in more than a century after it was successfully reintroduced a year ago.

About 750 butterflies emerged at the 867-acre site over the summer, after the insects bred and laid eggs in the first year.

Some 1,100 larvae of the large blue butterfly, the largest and rarest of all nine British blue butterflies, were released to the National Trust-owned common last August, after five years of landscape preparation.