Rare butterflies bounce back after landowners in Wales cut back on flailing hedges (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by GreyShuck@feddit.uk to c/nature@feddit.uk

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Record numbers of eggs of the rare brown hairstreak butterfly have been found in south-west Wales after landowners stopped flailing hedges every year.

The butterfly lays its eggs on blackthorn every summer. But when land managers and farmers mechanically cut hedges every autumn, thousands of the eggs are unknowingly destroyed.

Conservationists have now persuaded landowners to cut hedges in a more gentle rotation, with sections left uncut for up to three years, to enable more eggs to survive over winter. The caterpillars emerge with the foliage in spring and hatch into adult butterflies in July.

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this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026

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