Rare UK butterflies enjoy best year since monitoring began
by Patrick Barkham from on (#4CPB1)
Hot summer of 2018 boosted large blue, and black hairstreak, but small tortoiseshell declined
The golden summer of 2018 saw two of the UK's rarest butterflies, the large blue and the black hairstreak, enjoy their best years since scientific monitoring began.
More than two-thirds of British butterfly species were seen in higher numbers last year than in 2017, but despite the ideal butterfly weather, it was still only an average season - the 18th best in 43 years of recording.
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