www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

There have been press reports recently about the threat to oak trees posed by the Oak Processionary Moth. Kew Gardens is affected, amongst other places.

The problem is that the voracious habits of the caterpillars may deprive growing Purple Hairstreak larvae of food, and if the moths are controlled by insecticide (as has been proposed), this will kill the Hairstreaks (and goodness knows what else) along with them. A link to one article is below - I believe there are other reports elsewhere.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2 ... ar-england

Dave

I'm enjoying extra hour in bed this morning. (clocks have gone back one hour).
I guess that the threat to Oaks far outweighs any localised threat to Purple Hairstreaks. I enjoyed reading this article, particularly the amendment at the end. I am not sure what "serious irritation" is unless it was to the people at Kew Gardens after reading the original article

Hi all
I think the biggest threat is the control method that is already being used at Sulham Wood in Berkshire - that is the aerial spraying of the wood with Bacillus thuringiensis which, as far as I am aware, kills all Lepidoptera where it is used - it is not selective at all so Purple Haistreaks will be killed before they go hungry along with all other Butterflies and moths.
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-27242256
I am not sure if has, or is being proposed, for use elsewhere but I know BC is strongly opposed to its use for obvious reasons.
Kind Regards
Mark

Hi,
Mark, I kind of agree with you. I grew up counting butterflies near Sulham Woods as I lived in Tilehurst as a child.
If it were a case of saving a 100 year old Oak tree as opposed to a 1 year old Purple Hairstreak, I would go for saving the habitat every time in case eventually both were lost as the hairstreaks rely on the Oaks. However it is not as simple as that and poisoning insects in large swathes of landscape could easily create more problems than it solves. Could yhis be a panic measure that has not been properly researched?
Best Wishes,
Philip