Good news for butterfly enthusiasts this week – the black-veined white butterfly, previously described as extinct in Britain for nearly 100 years, has suddenly re-appeared.

First listed as a British species during the reign of King Charles II, they officially became extinct in Britain in 1925. This month they have mysteriously appeared in SE London among their favourite habitat: hawthorn and blackthorn trees.

Butterfly Conservation says that it probably does not signify a spontaneous recovery of an extinct species., but someone has re- introduced them. Read more from the BBC here

Last year the Large Blue butterfly – declared extinct in the UK in 1979, had it’s best summer yet in England as the result of re-introducing caterpillars from Sweden and a conservation project led by the Royal Entomological Society.

Read more from the BBC here

Many thanks to Bill Young