Green Hairstreak Butterfly Making a Recovery

The Green Hairstreak Butterfly Callophrys rubi appears to be making a recovery in the South Downs. In 2012 only 38 sightings were recorded across both East and West Sussex as the species suffered a huge drop in numbers due to the bad weather.

The Green Hairstreak Butterfly

But in May 2013, 63 of these bright green, iridescent butterflies were recorded near Storrington, West Sussex in just one day.

The site where the butterflies are thriving has recently been cleared of invasive scrub as part of a project to improve and increase chalk grassland across the South Downs National Park, which is vital to the survival of species such as the green hairstreak. Chalk grassland is an internationally important but endangered habitat often described as being as rich and diverse as tropical rainforest. But less than five percent of the National Park remains as chalk grassland.