Rare butterfly spotted in Mid Wales for first time in years
The Wood White butterfly, one of the UK's rarest species, has been recorded at four separate sites in North Powys this summer.
Three of these sightings were in forestry plantations close to the Kerry Ridgeway, while the fourth was at Roundton Hill, a Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust reserve.
The butterfly, which has suffered a decline in numbers, had not been recorded in Wales recently, though it has been spotted in the Forest of Dean sporadically.
The resurgence of the Wood White butterfly in Shropshire, due to the efforts of Butterfly Conservation and Forestry England, is believed to have contributed to its appearance in Mid Wales.
The first report of a Wood White butterfly in Mid Wales this year came in May when Clare Boyes, the butterfly recorder for Montgomeryshire, received a report via iRecord from Coed Cefn-craig near Newtown.
The sighting was made on May 9 by Martyn Moore.
Though an initial visit by Ms Boyes, Simon Spencer, and Richard Bullock in early June did not yield any sightings, further surveys in July revealed a colony of several individuals at Siercwm, including a female laying eggs.
Another group was found in an outlier block of forest in the City near Sarn.
The local butterfly group plans to conduct further surveys next spring and is in talks with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to discuss the management of roadside verges along the forestry plantation roads.
This strategy has been successful in Shropshire, and the group looks forward to improving the fortunes of this butterfly further.
The planned urgent work by NRW on the dam will proceed without the need to relocate food plants.
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