Rare Butterflies

Some butterflies do not travel far from their local colony and require a particular habitat in which to live. Some are woodland species, some like chalk grassland, some live in marshy fenland, some belong to high moorland and some can be found in the sand dunes around the coastline.

The little blue butterfly has long been a cause célèbre, and its comeback has become a cause for celebration. Karner blue festivals have popped up from New York to Wisconsin, and the Karner is the official butterfly of the state of New Hampshire and the town of Queensbury, New York. The Department of Natural Resources in Wisconsin even runs a seasonal hot line for reports of Karners in flight.

RARE species of butterflies are colonising parts of Scotland where they have never been recorded and returning to areas where they have been absent for 200 years. The revival is thought to be a result of the long and consistently warm summer, coupled with the recent heatwave, which have created ideal breeding conditions. The fine weather has also brought some unusual insect visitors to parts of Scotland from southern Europe, including the humming-bird hawk moth, which has been seen in Argyll, Fife, Glasgow and Cumbernauld this year.

A rare butterfly that disappeared from one of its Bay Area habitats four years ago has returned. The Bay Checkerspot Butterfly came home after biologists discovered what was killing them -- well-intentioned humans