Lismore’s Special Resident

5 October 2005

 The Marsh Fritillary

After a very successful visit on a very sunny day in June, Tom Prescott from Butterfly Conservation Scotland made a return visit recently to continue his work of helping to preserve the Marsh Fritillary, which he called Lismore’s special resident and one of the most endangered butterflies in Britain.

The Marsh Fritillary was once widespread in Britain and Ireland but is thought to be declining at about 10% per decade with an identical decline in Europe. However, Argyll and the Argyll islands now hold some of the most significant populations in Europe several of which are on Lismore. On this visit he was pointing out the conspicuous webs where the caterpillars live  communally on their sole food the Devil’s-bit Scabious. Because the butterfly is only found where its food is abundant, usually on damp grassland or open moor land, it is important that these sites are grazed ideally by cattle to retain and promote the scabious.  We were also urged to monitor the species at all stages of its development so that accurate records of its progress can be kept.