The insect’s survival is threatened by habitat loss, climate change and genetic erosion due to its limited geographical range.
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A groundbreaking project has been launched to help protect one of the UK’s most spectacular insects.
The British Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio machaon britannicus) is found exclusively in the county of East Anglia, predominantly in the Norfolk Broads, a national park veined with waterways.
However, the insect’s survival is threatened by habitat loss, climate change and genetic erosion due to its limited geographical range.
Now researchers from Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) have joined forces with Jimmy’s Farm & Wildlife Park and Nature's SAFE, a UK biobank specialising in conservation, to investigate if cryopreservation can come to the aid of Britain’s largest native butterfly.
80 per cent of British butterflies have experienced population decline
Since the 1970s, 80 per cent of the UK's butterflies have declined in their abundance or distribution.
The British Swallowtail, a subspecies of the Old World Swallowtail, is classified as vulnerable on Great Britain’s Red List. Its population has declined by 57 per cent in the last 20 years, although this decline has recently stabilised thanks to conservation efforts.
“Although this has been an excellent summer for our native butterflies, the long-term picture for the British Swallowtail is one of decline,” adds Dr Alvin Helden, a member of the Applied Ecology Research Group at ARU.
Jimmy’s Farm & Wildlife Park houses a thriving captive population of Papilio machaon gorganus, a European subspecies of the Swallowtail. Genetically similar but far more abundant than the British Swallowtail, the eggs of these butterflies will serve as the model for the research.
Scientists to trial cryopreservation to save British butterfly
Researchers will assess the viability of the latest cryopreservation techniques, which involve freezing eggs in liquid nitrogen at -196°C. They will then attempt to rear butterflies from frozen eggs and compare their development and reproductive success with control groups of butterflies from non-frozen eggs.
“Cryopreservation is a promising tool for supporting conservation efforts, but we believe this is the first time it has been attempted with butterflies,” says Helden.
If the method is effective, it is hoped that the eggs of the British Swallowtail can then be stored to support long-term conservation strategies, such as breeding programmes and reintroduction efforts.
“If successful, this research has the potential to help safeguard the future of the British Swallowtail and significantly contribute to butterfly conservation in general,” Helden adds.
Debbie Rolmanis, COO of Nature’s SAFE, says the project holds significant importance for the development of cryopreservation techniques, “not only for the British Swallowtail, but across pollinators and invertebrates as a whole.”
“Building capability in this area provides the opportunity to create impact for conservation, food production and biodiversity preservation – the critical triad for human and planetary health.”
