Large Blue
Rate of decline: 100 per cent
Went extinct in the UK in 1979. It has since been reintroduced by a partnership of organisations led by Butterfly Conservation and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. It is now doing well in parts of Somerset and Devon. Specific locations of some of the colonies are kept secret to protect the habitats. The butterfly spends only three weeks on the wing.

High Brown Fritillary
Rate of decline: 79 per cent
Its biggest stronghold is around Morecambe Bay in Lancashire. Butterfly Conservation has just begun a four-year project to extend the habitat here and encourage the butterfly to breed. UK-wide, it exists in around 50 sites where conservationists are struggling to save it. Found on recently cleared coppiced woodland and bracken clearings.

Wood White (pictured)
Rate of decline: 68 per cent
This species is rare and is found only in the south of England and the limestone landscapes of The Burren in western Ireland. It is a small, white butterfly with grey smudges on its wings and a dainty flight. It is usually found in woodland glades or scrub but its decline in the UK is a result of changes in woodland management and a lack of coppicing. Butterfly Conservation’s South East Woodlands Project is aimed at saving this species (and other woodland species that are in trouble) by working with landowners to manage woodlands for butterflies.

Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Rate of decline: 61 per cent
The Pearl-bordered Fritillary can be found only in small colonies scattered around the UK. Look out for them in woodland clearings and rough hillsides. It takes to the wing pretty early and can be seen in flight in April. Butterfly Conservation is working in many areas to save this species. Cornish woods used to abound with Pearl-bordered 100 years ago. Now the species struggles to survive as woodland management practices have changed.

White-letter Hairstreak
Rate of decline: 53 per cent
This species relies on elm trees, so Dutch Elm disease in the Seventies had a huge impact on numbers. Although it is showing some signs of recovery, it is still in rapid decline. A monitoring programme, run by Butterfly Conservation volunteers from Hertfordshire, is targeting areas to find out whether anything can be done to help. The species breeds in elms in hedgerows.

Duke of Burgundy
Rate of decline: 52 per cent
This tiny butterfly was once common in woodlands across Southern England, Wales and as far north as Southern Scotland. It is now found only in Central Southern England, Kent and Northern England. It frequents scrubby grassland and sunny woodland clearings. The adults rarely visit flowers and most sightings are of the territorial males as they perch on a prominent leaf at the edge of scrub.

Marsh Fritillary
Rate of decline: 46 per cent
Found all over the UK but scarce. Restricted to chalk and limestone grassland, damp fields and heaths. Cream spots among the orange and brown on the upper wings distinguish this medium-sized butterfly from other fritillaries. Its population is increasing in some areas where conservation management is having an effect, but more needs to be done to preserve it.

Grayling
Rate of decline: 43 per cent
Although widespread on the coast of Britain and Ireland and on heathland in southern Britain, this species is in rapid decline. It rests with its wings closed, so its mottled brown underwings give it camouflage when against tree trunks. Appears larger in flight when its yellow-orange bands can be seen. Building developments, golf courses and intensive farming threaten colonies.

Large Heath
Rate of decline: 43 per cent
Seen in wet, boggy habitats in Scotland and North Wales and England. It used to be seen all over the UK but nowadays its habitats have been severely reduced by drainage and peat extraction, so Butterfly Conservation urges people to stop buying compost with peat.

Silver-studded Blue
Rate of decline: 43 per cent
Found mainly on heathlands, where the silvery-blue wings of the male are a marvellous sight as they flutter over heather. It is found in Southern England and coastal areas of Wales and Norfolk. Though Britain has lost around 60 per cent of its lowland heaths, some of this species’ local populations are responding well to conservation. But more needs to be done.