Discoveries That Saved The Large Blue Butterfly Detailed

On the 25th anniversary of the project that brought the large blue butterfly back from near extinction in the United Kingdom, ecologists are for the first time publishing the decades of research that helped them rescue this spectacular butterfly. The study shows how the large blue's extreme dependence on a single ant species led to the butterflies' demise, as their habitat became overgrown, causing soil temperatures to drop and ant numbers to diminish. Before this discovery, butterfly collectors were generally blamed for the decline of this butterfly, also known as Maculinea arion.

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