Funded by The Heritage Council

During 2010, ecologists from BEC Consultants conducted a small survey of butterflies and bumblebees across counties Cavan, Leitrim, Roscommon and Offaly.  The project was cofounded by BEC Consultants and the Heritage Council.  Data from the Irish Semi-natural Grassland Survey, which is funded by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, were used to locate sites that would potentially contain suitable habitat.  Two types of grassland habitat protected under the Annex I category of the European Habitat Directive with which the occurrence of marsh fritillary (Eurodryas aurinia) has been associated were specifically targeted.  Sixteen sites across the four counties were surveyed with additional data being collected for a site already being managed for marsh fritillary by Butterfly Conservation Ireland and the Irish Peatland Conservation Council in Co. Kildare.

Two new sites for the marsh fritillary in Co. Roscommon were discovered and several records for other scarce butterflies and bumblebees were made, including one record for the vulnerable Bombus ruderarius.  On each site visited, data on the suitability of the habitat for marsh fritillary was also collected.  The marsh fritillary is known to require a network of suitable habitat areas which it will not all utilise at any one time, so such data will be of value to any further projects that seek to survey or indeed manage the marsh fritillary in these counties.

Emphasis was placed on marsh fritillary, as of the six Irish butterfly species listed as threatened on the IUCN Irish Red List it is the only one protected under the EU Habitats Directive.  Its numbers have declined severely throughout Europe; and Britain and Ireland are believed to be major European strongholds for the species.  Declines have been attributed to loss of uncultivated grasslands, overgrazing on remaining habitat, and its requirement for extensive habitat area and wildlife corridors.