Legal protection of butterflies

[Deb London]

We had a short lesson in the legal protection of certain animals last Sunday and during this discovered, to my delight, that a butterfly that I have never seen (the White Letter Hairstreak) inhabits a park near me. But I was shocked to learn that legally I'm allowed to intentionally kill it, destroy its resting place/breeding site (elm I guess) and basically make its life a misery. I can't sell it though. I checked the UK butterflies site, and was even more shocked to see some of what I think are even rarer species in the same category. The full list is:

Adonis Blue
Black Hairstreak
Brown Hairstreak
Chalkhill Blue
Chequered Skipper
Duke of Burgundy
Glanville Fritillary
Large Heath
Large Tortoiseshell
Lulworth Skipper
Mountain Ringlet
Northern Brown Argus
Pearl-Bordered Fritillary
Purple Emperor
Silver-Spotted Skipper
Silver-Studded Blue
Small Blue
White-Letter Hairstreak
Wood White

Am I misunderstanding something? Surely there must be more protection for something like a Duke of Burgundy. I am genuinely bemused by what I have read recently.

[artdemole]

This is one almighty shame.So much loss of wildlife yet alone their habitat.
...aDm....

[Deb London]

Hi aDm, so I understand correctly, do I?

[Dogghound]

A lot of these species are mainly susceptible to habitat loss, fortunately most colonies occur on statutory sites, nature reserves etc. Therefore habitat is likely to be managed to suit them and is unlikely to be lost. So they do get a little protection in this respect. The only direct protection the species you mention get is that it is illegal to sell them.

Additionally

Heath Fritillary, High Brown Fritillary, Large Blue, Large Copper, Marsh Fritillary and Swallowtail are fully protected.

[Deb London]

Hi Dan, Thanks for the info. So they do often have protection, but it is a matter of luck sometimes.

Larger flying animals seem to fare better. In my study notes I can see that bats are fully protected. I think that's how it should be. But something so rare that it is on the brink of extinction (e.g. the DoB) should surely be moved up the ranks a bit, no?

[Dogghound]

I think its reviewed every 5 years so if large declines occur over that period it may get further protection. Incidentally Duke of Burgundy is quite abundant at some sites local to me.

It is important to conserve insects and their habitats otherwise birds and bats (and other insect dependent species) will struggle, everything is linked.

[Ukwildlifeo]

Sadly, as is often the case, the invertebrates often get overlooked.

[aeshna5]

Somewhat bemused that Large Copper is given full protection when it is extinct in the UK.

[Deb London]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

I think its reviewed every 5 years so if large declines occur over that period it may get further protection. Incidentally Duke of Burgundy is quite abundant at some sites local to me.

It is important to conserve insects and their habitats otherwise birds and bats (and other insect dependent species) will struggle, everything is linked.

Well I'm encouraged by that at least. I'm only going by what I've read. I have no in-depth knowledge.

But my eyes are opening I think.

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by Ukwildlifeo

Sadly, as is often the case, the invertebrates often get overlooked.

I wouldn't necessarily say that invertebrates are more likely to be overlooked, it's just that the protection is usually applied differently.
Apart from a few exceptions, invertebrates are most likely to be given protection by protecting the habitat (as a nature reserve, SSSI, SPA etc - although sadly some designations don't actually provide the protection that they should)). It is usually considered unnecessary to give legal protection to the species itself because invertebrate populations tend to be high enough to sustain losses.
In some cases/invertebrate groups specimens need to be taken before it can be confirmed that a rare species is actually present so the law needs to allow for some to be killed, and only species that are readily identifiable in the field can really be given full protection (this doesn't apply to White-letter Hairstreaks though because they can be identified in the field).

Originally Posted by aeshna5

Somewhat bemused that Large Copper is given full protection when it is extinct in the UK.

I've always assumed that examples like this are as a precaution - just in case there is still an extant colony that has somehow been overlooked (which does happen with invertebrates).