Page 27 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #04

BLASTS FROM

THE PAST:

STAR SPECIES

FAIRY SHRIMP MARSH FRITILLARY
ITILL
AR
SH
FR
Y
Chirocephalus diaphanous Euphydryas aurinia
Tank tracks compress the ground, Salisbury Plain is one of Britain’s best
creating water-filled hollows perfect sites for this beautiful butterfly, which
for this quirky 13mm-long crustacean, is vanishing across Europe. “Elsewhere
in the UK found at only a handful of most pasture has been improved or is
locations. “Army vehicles disperse its mown too early, killing the caterpillars,”
eggs, which stay dormant in mud until explains Michelle Davis of Edge Hill
rain triggers their development,” says University.“I spendAugust hunting for
MoD ecologist Iain Perkins
MoD ecologist Iain Perkins. the l larval webson devil’s-bit scabious.”

d Wonders of Europe/Lesniewsk /NPL k /NPL e/L WHINCHAT NARROW-BORDERED

O
W
T
K
A
EH
M
H
Saxicola rubetra
Around 400–500 pairs of whinchats
Hemaris tityus
Shr mp: Ia n Perk ns; wh nchat: Ian Henderson; bee & hawkmoth: Dav d Wh taker/A amy; butterfly: Ma co m Schuy /A amy; cur ew: W
“You could easily mistake this stunning
nest on Salisbury Plain, lowland BEE HAWKMOTH
England’s last significant population. hawkmoth for a bumblebee,” says Mark
“They love to perch on tall umbellifer Parsons of Butterfly Conservation, “as
Wildflowers such as viper’s flowers, such as wild carrot,” it’s active by day and very fast flying,
bugloss (this picture), says Ian Henderson of the BTO, although quieter and more agile.” The
weld, ragwort and wild “especially on warm, dry valley sides MoD training area is outstanding for
carrot (above) flourish on
Salisbury Plain. with lots of insect-rich bare ground.” moths, with 36 nationally scarce species.

BROKEN-BELTED STONE CURLEW
BUMBLEBEE Burhinus oedicnemus
Bombus soroeensis Numbers of this weird wader breeding in
“Salisbury Plain’s MoD grassland Wessex have risen from 30-odd pairs in
is vast, flower-rich and not all cut in the mid-1980s to around 130 now, many
July, so is fantastic for bumblebees,” on military ranges. “Stone curlews need
says Richard Comont of Bumblebee short turf or bare earth for nesting,”
Conservation. “Several rare species explains the RSPB’s Nick Tomalin, “so
still flourish, including this specialist on MoD land many use specially created
of chalk grassland. As it emerges late, fallow nesting plots. Tank tracks and
it can’t survive midsummer mowing.” disturbed ground are also ideal.”
April 2018 BBC Wildlife 27