‘Top marks’ for sharp-eyed snappers as UK nets new butterfly species

Sightings confirmed in County Durham and Suffolk as southern small white flutters in from European mainland

Britain has a new species of butterfly: the southern small white has continued its rapid colonisation of northern Europe by flying across the North Sea.

The species looks very similar to the native small, large and green-veined whites but two individuals spotted in County Durham and Suffolk this summer have been verified as Pieris mannii, which was once confined to southern Europe.