A NEW species of butterfly found in Ireland called the cryptic wood white has been identified by scientists working in Spain and Russia.
The butterfly, which has the scientific name Leptidea juvernica, looks exactly like the Real's wood white and the Wood white butterfly. But scientific examination of the species found it has far more chromosomes and genetically dates back 70,000 years, much further than the two other species.
While the species was identified in Northern Ireland, it is also found on other parts of the island, according to the National Biodiversity Data Centre in Waterford.
Its director Dr Liam Lysaght said that until scientists made the distinction between the species, it was thought there were two species of wood white butterflies on the island.
“One of the species was found in the Burren and in Britain, and the other species outside the Burren was found here and in Spain, but not in Britain,” he said.
Welcoming the scientific breakthrough, he said the centre had been tracking the research in Spain. Scientists there and in Russia have identified the cryptic wood white across a swath of central Europe.
Chief executive of Butterfly Conservation in Britain, Martin Warren, said they were now going to have to rewrite butterfly books there.
The announcement of the new cryptic species, so-called because they are identical to existing species and therefore “hidden” within them, comes just as the world’s largest count of butterflies gets under way.
It starts in Britain this coming weekend when the public will be encouraged to record all butterflies they spot in their gardens, parks or countryside.
The count is being funded by the Marks Spencer group. The retailer is helping to fund Butterfly Conservation, which is facing an 85 per cent funding cut.
Britain’s main wildlife watchdog body, Natural England, is, meanwhile, to shed 800 staff.
Last year 10,000 people in the UK downloaded free identification guides and submitted sightings of 189,000 butterflies online at www.bigbutterflycount.org
The National Biodiversity Data Centre in Waterford runs an Irish butterfly monitoring scheme website:
butterflies.biodiversityireland.ie