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Marsh Frits have been fluttering all over radio four news today with regard to the release in Cumbria. They said it hasn't been spotted there since 2004 and some bright spark kept over some Caterpillars and has released some 300......keeping caterpillers for three years seem a long time me thinks.....

Danny

Danny wrote:Marsh Frits have been fluttering all over radio four news today with regard to the release in Cumbria. They said it hasn't been spotted there since 2004 and some bright spark kept over some Caterpillars and has released some 300......keeping caterpillers for three years seem a long time me thinks.....

Danny

As is sometimes the case, some 'rare' butterflies are easy to breed in captivity and within a season or two, a huge captive population can be built up. This is mainly due to good husbandry ~ exclusion of parasites and predators and other adverse natural elements. A healthy gravid female will lay a huge number of ova if kept in good health for a week or so.

Although its well over thirty years since I raised a few generations in captivity ( 1975 IIRC) , I clearly remember it being one of the easiest of butterflies to rear over several generations. It is a very cooperative species. Back then one early spring, I had so many post hibernation larvae I gave many away to other enthusiasts and land owners who wanted to repopulate areas where the butterfly was once more numerous. The Glanville Fritillary is another very cooperative species to breed in capativity.

Conversely, the Meadow Brown is a lot of hard work to build numbers up over only a few generations in captivity.