Page 41 - World of Animals - Issue #30

L
L
L OST FOREVER
L
OST FOREVER
OST FOREVER
Madeiran large

white butterfly specimen measured 65
Wingspan
The largest recorded
millimetres (2.6 inches)
from one wing tip to
another – as wide as
your palm.
Once found in the humid forests of
Madeira, this butterfly suffered a
y suffered a

Madeira, this butterfl
tragic demise over recent decades
tragic demise over recent decades

Madeira

Tongue
Tongue
Like many moth
Spot the difference
Spot the difference Like many moth
species, this butterfl
Females were bigger and had a
Females were bigger and had a species, this butterfly

y
darker colouring to males, but
adult fed on nectar,
darker colouring to males, but adult fed on nectar,
using its long tongue to
still displayed the same spots
still displayed the same spots using its long tongue to
on the tips of their forewings.
on the tips of their forewings. dip into fl owering plants.
dip into flowering plants.
Isolated from mainland threats on its eastern cousins, cabbage white butterflies, females laid Last seen…

Atlantic island, the Madeiran large white their eggs in batches on leafy, vegetable-like

butterfly’s existence had gone completely plants known as crucifers, which the caterpillars Date: 1977
unthreatened for several million years, ever since then ate prior to their pupal stage. Location: Northern Madeira

they evolved during the Pliocene era. It inhabited Estimates of the butterfly’s population since The Madeiran large white butterfly was

the humid Laurisilva forests that characterise the 1970s have varied greatly. However, in recent considered rare when the last offi cial sighting

the highlands of Madeira, from around 400 to years it has completely disappeared, despite was made in the late 1970s, but unoffi cial

1,200 metres (1,300 to 3,900 feet) above sea concerted efforts to find it in its natural habitat. counts in the 1980s made it seem as if the
level. These lush, subtropical woodlands feature There are several factors that are likely to have population was making a recovery – or at least
relatively mild temperatures with broad-leafed, had a direct impact on this butterfly: logging, the was more widespread than it had appeared.

evergreen and hardwood trees, ferns and mosses. construction of buildings – particularly holiday However, despite more of a concerted search
They’re a relic of the Mediterranean forests of homes – that encroached on its habitat, the in the 1990s, not a single specimen has been
prehistoric times, before climate change saw spread of pollutants such as pesticides, a viral found since. Considering the small size of the

the region dry and then cool during the ice age, infection from an alien species of butterfly that island and the fact that it has not been seen for

restricting this butterfly’s habitat to an equatorial was introduced in the 1950s and even some over 20 years, it is most likely extinct.
archipelago, away from the advancing glaciers of small impact from butterfly collectors. Madeira’s “Females laid their

more temperate regions. Laurisilva forest ecosystem has since been
The Madeiran large white butterfly preferred recognised as one of particular beauty and has © freevectormaps.com; Alan Batley

the valleys of the Laurisilva forests to the north, now been made a protected UNESCO World eggs in batches
where nectar-rich plants that the adults could Heritage Site – but this came too late for the on leafy plants”
feed on were found in abundance. Like their Madeiran large white butterfly.

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