These Large Blue Butterflies Returned to UK After 50-year Extinction

After a 150-year absence, 750 of the aptly-named large blue butterflies have successfully emerged from their cocoons to repopulate parts of their historic habitat in South West England.

Most conservation dollars don’t reach beyond elephants, pandas, and tigers, but English biologists notoriously proud and connected to the natural life on their island needed only five years to begin repopulating part of the country with the largest of England’s nine blue butterfly species: an unmistakable creature thanks to the row of black spots on its upper forewings.


chris.n.cooper CC BY-NC 2.0

Phengaris arion, which is called the ‘large blue’, was officially declared extinct in Britain in 1979, but efforts from private trusts and ecological associations created the world’s largest and most successful insect conservation program in the world, and from 1984 to 2008, it saw the large blue return to 30 previously occupied and new breeding sites.

The large blue’s recovery is a classic ‘web of life’ example of how animals and plants rely on one another to survive. It’s not enough to protect the butterflies, and scientists like those working at the Butterfly Conservation Trust have had to organize protection for wild thyme and red ants, two species that are integral parts of the large blue’s world.


Paul:Ritchie CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

There have been attempts to repopulate the species previously, but the latest and largest took place at the Minchinhampton and Rodborough Commons in Gloucestershire and involved careful preparation of the habitat. The area hasn’t had a documented sighting of a large blue in 150 years. The other requirement is a large population of a specific heat-loving red ant species. To help build up that population, cattle were brought to the Commons to graze and to their business, which warmed the soil and promoted ant colony growth.

And after a seemingly endless wait for them to complete their lifecycles, conservationists carefully inspected the area and found plenty of evidence that the butterflies laid eggs in the wild. That’s an amazing sign and points to a high likelihood that the butterfly population can continue on its own with only a careful guiding hand to ensure their habitat needs to stay plentiful.

h/t: CBBC Newsround


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Sinkha63 CC BY-NC-SA 2.0


fra298 CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The “Instagram Reality” Community Is Exposing The Fakest Photos Online, Here Are 102 Of The Most Ridiculous Ones (New Pics)

In social media, there’s nothing wrong with adjusting your images. After all, we’ve got all the time in the world to make it presentable. An annoying person in the background? Crop him out! Picture too bright? Adjust the lighting! We can fix our photos however we’d like.

However, don’t edit it too much, or you will end up destroying your photo instead of fixing it. And for examples of terribly-manipulated photos, we went over the Instagram Reality subreddit. There, people shame poorly-edited photos posted on Instagram that would make anyone cringe! Check out the best, or rather worst, 30 images below!

For more shameful photos presented by the community, click here!

More info: Reddit

#1 Same Person, Right?

Image source: JollyError373

#2 Asian Photoshopping

Image source: ParchedCoverage

#3 I – Um-

Image source: SinuateTenesmus778

#4 Small Face, Weird Big Fingers Wtf !

Image source: josuke2233

#5 Yeah…

Image source: Mattias504

#6 Skin Texture We Don’t Know Her

Image source: sugar_daddy_madi

#7 You’re Id Card Won’t Lie

Image source: TheWhaleEgg

#8 Look Guys My Waist Is The Same Size As My Arms!

Image source: ofeybuns

#9 Difference From A Live Performance And A Video

Image source: IloveLewisHamilton

#10 Everyone Looks Normal Except

Image source: StormTank40

#11 Her Waist Is Smaller Than Her Head

Image source: Olgina87

#12 I Can’t Believe She Posted This…

Image source: Blawaan

#13 This Hair Stylist Adding Filters After His Work

Image source: kellyatta

#14 I’ve Never Seen A More Accurate Description

Image source: stupidpoopoohead

#15 This One Made Me Laugh!

Image source: adullploy

#16 One Of My Fav Influencers

Image source: ParchedCoverage

#17 God I Hate Snapchat

Image source: ILikeGreenPotatoes

#18 Your Sleep Paralysis Demon Stood At The Edge Of Your Bed

Image source: minimaude

#19 These Actually Terrify Me!

Image source: xBigSister1988x

#20 That’s Her Strong Arm

Image source: 27littlebears

#21 Found This On A Japanese Musician’s Page. I Don’t Even Know What’s Going On – Is The Red Haired Dude Ok?

Image source: tofu-cutie

#22 Youtuber Who Always Looks Different In Each Of Her Pictures

Image source: MedSkewlgate

#23 I Cried Laughing. Can You See It?

Image source: DatBishStoopid

#24 Damn, We Got Some Fine Elbows Up In Here

Image source: phanieee

#25 Zoom In On The Nose

Image source: trash_bj

#26 Let Me Just Tuck My Hair Behind My Eyelash Real Quick

Image source: Tunelesshalo

#27 Just A Tad Bit Heavy On The Hips, Just A Tad Bit

Image source: shantiteuta

#28 Her vs. His Insta Post

Image source: Matis5

#29 It’s Like Her Hair Is Afraid To Touch Her Butt

Image source: Brewmeiser

#30 How Delusional Are You From 1 To This Person?

Image source: mmajamm




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