The conservation of Carterocephalus palaemon in Scotland

Abstract

To date, most butterflies that have received detailed study of their conservation needs have been those confined to the southern regions of England where they are at the northern limits of their range, surviving in habitats that produce artificially increased temperatures, such as heathland or calcareous grassland, e.g. Hesperia comma (silver-spotted skipper) (Thomas et al., 1986), Lysandra bellargus (adonis blue) (J. Thomas, 1983b) and Plebejus argus (silver-studded blue) (Thomas, 1985). Often, the factors limiting the presence of these species are found to be the abundance of features that maintain this microclimate, such as unusually short food-plants or high proportions of bare ground.