www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7544564.stm

Gruditch

Very interesting report.
What the report doesn't mention is how and why the tiny parasitoid fly, Sturmia bella, has managed to spread from southern Europe.
This link suggests it is either the result of climate change, or an unwitting introduction from across the Channel.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environmen ... 02349.html

When I visited the Danish island of Bornholm in 2006, I was amazed at the number of small tortoiseshell. It would appear to me Sturmia bella has not got as far as Denmark yet.

Does anyone know if the distribution of Sturmia bella accross Europe has been mapped and compaired to distribution of small tortoiseshell?

Crispin

I have heard about this fly for a long while now, and nearly sure I have seen them here, I have lots of different fly photos I have taken and will need to look at them to see if ones that one.

Last year there was hundreds of small tortoiseshell, now only a fraction remain, mostly in small areas, not like before.

If this is going like it is, even breeding and releasing tortoiseshells won't really help, only more food for the fly well, hope nothing too bad happens to the tortoiseshell