Butterflies must be one of the most loved and most studied groups of insects in the world, and for good reason. Not only are they beautiful and charismatic insects, but they are also important pollinators and a vital food source for other wildlife. They are also recognised as indicators of biodiversity and environmental health. The short life cycles of butterflies, and their sensitivity to weather and climate conditions, means they are good indicators of how wildlife is responding to environmental change. 

Dorset is well known for its diversity of butterflies, with up to 50 species being recorded each year. There are 59 species in the UK, and there is even one species, the Lulworth skipper, which is only found on the south coast of Dorset!

Dorset Wildlife Trust has some fantastic nature reserves for a butterfly enthusiast. Fontmell Down has the only Dorset population of silver-spotted skippers, along with Adonis blues, chalkhill blues and dark green fritillaries to name a few. Or head to Bracketts Coppice and Powerstock Common for marsh fritillaries, silver washed fritillaries and purple hairstreaks.

Lyscombe certainly has the potential to join this illustrious list of the best butterfly sites in Dorset. Much like Fontmell Down, Lyscombe has some great areas of chalk downland which is a superb habitat for many species of butterfly.

The reserve has been surveyed occasionally since the 1960’s, some of the founding members of the Dorset Naturalist’s Trust (which later became the Dorset Wildlife Trust) recognised the importance of Lyscombe for wildlife and set out to record the plants, birds and butterflies found there. Their reports show a fascinating glimpse into the past. 

We are now continuing this monitoring work at Lyscombe. We have set up four butterfly transects covering key areas of the reserve. The Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) downland areas, the species rich meadows in Lyscombe bottom and the former arable areas. Allowing us good comparisons across different habitats and enabling us to monitor the changes across the site over the years. 

The transects involve walking a set route and recording all the butterflies you see within a certain distance. Each transect is walked once a week, with a small but fantastic group of volunteers recently recruited to lend a hand. A big thank you to all of them!

So far, we have recorded 28 species with some welcome surprises, but also some notable absences.

The nature reserve appears to have good populations of both grizzled and dingy skippers as well as green hairstreaks. Another species which I am very pleased to say I am seeing plenty of at the moment is the wall brown. This species has undergone substantial declines over the last decade and is one which I have only seen a handful of times before starting at Lyscombe, so a very welcome sight. 

Another encouraging find was several marsh fritillaries recorded back in May. This is another butterfly which has seen massive declines across Europe and particularly in the UK over recent decades, so a wonderful record for Lyscombe. It appears that marsh fritillaries have had a good year in general with large numbers spotted on several of our nature reserves. It’s probable that those at Lyscombe have ventured from a nearby colony, so fingers crossed they have managed to breed on site and next year we will see them again. 

Perhaps most surprising and encouraging was the discovery of a healthy population of small blues. To our knowledge the first record of this species at Lyscombe! The small blue is the smallest butterfly in the UK, and is fairly widespread but not plentiful anywhere, relying on areas where the sole foodplant for its caterpillars, kidney vetch, is found.

Disappointingly though we haven’t yet recorded any chalkhill blues or Adonis blues at Lyscombe. These are two species which specialise on chalk downland and were recorded at Lyscombe in the past. I am hopeful though that once the cattle and ponies have been grazing the SSSI for a while, the habitat will be more suitable, and we could see the return of these wonderful butterflies.

Also missing from our list is the very rare Duke of Burgundy. With a known colony close by we were cautiously optimistic that this species may have found its way onto Lyscombe. Alas, it appears not. We will be focussing on providing the ideal conditions for this butterfly to encourage its dispersal onto the nature reserve. It requires plenty of primulas, ideally cowslips, for the caterpillars to eat and thrives in sheltered, sunny areas with some scattered scrub.

Over time the habitats for butterflies across Lyscombe will improve, and species like the small blues and marsh fritillaries, which are currently confined to the species rich grasslands, will be able to disperse and build larger, more resilient populations, helping to secure their futures in Dorset.

Learn more about Lyscombe