BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wildwood" data-source="post: 1631700" data-attributes="member: 49443">Despite previous efforts to save the Large Blue it failed even with an understanding of its lifestyle. It wasn't until after it became extinct in the UK that it was discovered that it needed a specific species of ant Myrmica sabuleti to host its larvae. Before that all that was known was a general knowledge that some species of ants were involved. This was certainly more important than the link to its food plant Thyme which was still pretty widespread. So the habitat is generally maintained for the ants and the butterflies do the rest.The knowledge gained from this understanding of closely linked species will certainly help to understand the habitat requirements for other species of butterfly and other organisms. For me this is the most important thing to come out of the project.I believe the Large Blue's that were reintroduced into the UK were tested genetically to enable them to be matched as closely as possible to the former UK population and also tested for diseases. I don't think you can ask much more than that. Casual releases by 'numpties' are a different matter.One thing's for certain, the ants didn't know the difference!</blockquote>