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Message: <blockquote data-quote="HarassedDad" data-source="post: 1622074" data-attributes="member: 10608">Even the UKLeps mailing group was slow on the news of the QoS. re releases: you can buy QoS on the internet as larvae or pupae (also Purple Emperor and all the Uk frits). Here in Norfolk I know of 5 individuals and one group of releasers; the latter probably being responsible for the sudden appearence of Chalkhill Blue in the county. There are probably more releasers we don't know about. Mostly it's not significant - although it does have one side effect. A couple of years ago we had sightings reported of Small Pearl-bordered frit from a location in the county. Now they were last seen in the county in 1984, and are presumed extinct, but it's just possible that a colony has clung on. So we could have gone into overdrive, canvessed the neighbourhood, instituted searches, found the colony and implemented conservation measures (got the site protected, managed the habitat etc). But actually what we did was go "garden shed job" and forgot about it. Given the overwhelming likelyhood that they were releases, and our limited resources, that was the sensible choice - but it still worries me that we might have missed the chance to protect a genuine survivor. (They haven't been seen since, so either they've gone or they were a release: we'll never know)What really disturbs me is the possibility that someone has released european Swallowtails (macheon) in the last remaining county with the british subspecies (britannicus). The possibility of genetic contamination, and consequent loss of diversity is appalling: since any offspring will be less fit, it could even threaten the population. Given that commercial breeders will happily post macheon to a Norfolk address (£1.45 a pupae currently) without any qualms, and that they've even been sold on ebay, the possibility that they could be obtained by folk who don't realise the damage they could do - and might even think they could be doing good - is quite worrying. One seller even has "release them to boost local populations" on his website (admittedly about a much more common species - but it plants an idea in people's heads).</blockquote>

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