LARGE BLUE-DANEWAY BANKS-GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Jenna and I had been planning this trip for the past month, aiming to see our final British butterfly of the year, the Large Blue (Phengaris arion). In addition, we had booked a moth event in Wiltshire with Butterfly Conservation before beginning our butterfly search. We set off at 5:00 a.m., accompanied by Jenna’s son, Harley, and I also picked up my mother from Holmes Chapel, as she wanted to join us for a family day out. By 10:00 a.m., we arrived at Great Chalford Manor in Wiltshire. 

Great Chalford Manor

The house itself was impressive, and the traps set overnight were brimming with moths. I was astounded by the sheer number of species captured! After a few hours of careful identification, I added over forty moths to my list, including some stunning specimens:

Small Elephant Hawk-moth

Four-spotted-Footman

Elephant Hawk moth

Poplar Hawk-moth

Scalloped Oak

Drinker

Swallow-tailed Moth

Yellow-tail

After a fantastic start to the morning, we moved on to our main target: the Large Blue butterfly. We visited Daneway Banks nature reserve in Gloucestershire.

The quality of the habitats at Daneway Banks made it an ideal site for the reintroduction of the Large Blue, which became extinct in the UK during the 1970s. Eggs collected from a Swedish island were brought to the reserve, and in just a few years, Daneway Banks became world-renowned for its population, with the largest recorded in 2019.

One striking feature of the reserve is the numerous ant hills created by the Yellow Meadow Ant (Lasius flavus), known locally as “emmet casts.” These small mounds stand out in winter, creating a lunar-like landscape, and are sometimes visited by woodpeckers digging for the ants inside. Daneway Banks has been protected from modern farming methods, providing an excellent example of limestone grassland. The Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT) has leased it since 1968 and purchased it in 2016 following a major fundraising campaign. Chief Executive Roger Mortlock describes it as “one of our most treasured and diverse limestone grassland sites.”

Upon arrival, the sheer number of people searching for Large Blues was remarkable, and it wasn’t long before we saw our first one.

 

The Large Blue has a fascinating and unusual life cycle. After hatching, the caterpillar feeds on thyme plants for three weeks before dropping to the ground. There, it mimics the scent and sounds of the Myrmica sabuleti ant, which carries it back to its colony and cares for it as one of their own. Inside the nest, the caterpillar becomes carnivorous, feeding on the ant pupae while continuing to mimic the ants. Occasionally, it may even cannibalise other larvae within the nest.

All smiles after seeing the Large Blues

By the end of our visit, we had observed four Large Blues—a thrilling conclusion to another successful day of wildlife exploration.