Your donation means twice as much this week
From Wednesday 22nd April to Wednesday 29th April your donation makes double the difference to conservation work on Ashdown Forest with Earth Raise.
Every donation you make this week at bit.ly/AshdownBigGive26 will be doubled by The Big Give and The Garfield Weston Foundation. Help us reach our target of £10,000 and make a huge difference to Forest species like the Silver-studded Blue butterfly.
Conserving the Silver-studded Blue
There has been much in the news recently about the decline of butterfly species in Britain. Here on Ashdown Forest, though, there is one success story.
The Silver-studded Blue is a protected species of butterfly listed as Vulnerable, and has undergone a major decline through most of its range in the UK due to habitat destruction and lack of grazing. Found in sparser, low-growing heathland habitats, the butterfly’s range is extremely restricted, with many individuals flying no further than 50m from their hatching site during their lives.
On Ashdown Forest, the Countryside Team has been busy creating new habitat areas for the Silver-studded Blue, by cutting back overgrown heathland areas using a combination of human work and conservation grazing, to create a “superhighway for butterflies”. This work is allowing populations of this beautiful creature to meet and mingle for the first time. As a result the butterfly population on the Forest is growing and becoming more resilient, with numbers increasing every year.
Your donations help us to support ongoing conservation programmes like this throughout the Forest environment.
Please donate today, and help make double the difference for the Silver-studded Blue and other key species on Ashdown Forest.
Did You Know?
The Silver-studded Blue has an ant-dependent life cycle. The caterpillars produce a sweet secretion that ants feed on, and in return, the ants provide protection from predators and parasites. The female butterflies will only lay eggs in areas where they detect black ant pheromones.
Top tips for spotting the Silver-studded Blue
- Keep your distance, tread lightly, and take only photographs if you spot one of these protected butterflies in the wild.
- Time your visit for mid-July in warm, sunny weather.
- The butterfly is primarily found on low-growing heathland. Away from the Forest, they can also sometimes be seen in coastal sites, limestone grassland, and sand dunes.
- They can be identified by the silvery-blue “studs” on the underside of the hindwing, within black marks between orange and white spots. Males have blue upper wings with thick black borders, while females are brown.
- Look for butterflies being attended by ants, especially in the late afternoon when adults often roost on sheltered bushes or grass tussocks
