Conservationists release 4,000 moth eggs on hillside using paintbrushes
Butterfly Conservation has helped to hide 4,000 microscopic moth eggs on a Scottish hillside using paintbrushes.
Staff and volunteers joined a team of 20 in the Cairngorms National Park to release the eggs of the endangered Dark-bordered Beauty which were bred in captivity.
The painstaking procedure was part of a long-running Rare Invertebrates in the Cairngorms (RIC) project with the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) and RSPB Scotland.
The team hope to establish a new population for this rare species.
RZSS conservationist Adam Button said: "It was quite the occasion, bringing together so many faces from the project - including our CEO, David Field - to release this remarkable species. There was a real sense of celebration and optimism in the air. It was a wonderful day and I look forward to returning to see how the eggs have fared."
David Hill, Butterfly Conservation Head of Nature Recovery for Scotland, added: "This project clearly demonstrates the importance of working together in partnership to take effective action for species and their habitats.
"Healthy aspen woodlands are incredibly important for a range of invertebrates in the Cairngorms, and the WildLand estate have done a great job here. We hope this egg release is a big step forward in securing the future of Dark-bordered Beauty in the Cairngorms."
The Dark-bordered Beauty was once widespread across northern England and Scotland, but habitat loss has caused a serious decline, and it is now restricted to just three small sites: Deeside and RSPB Insh Marshes in Scotland, and one site in Yorkshire.
The project partners have been breeding individuals in captivity for several years in order to start new colonies in the Cairngorms and produce a much larger, more stable population.
Last year, the team were able to collect and release 400 eggs. This year, they released ten times that number.
The location chosen was a hillside clearing at Kinrara, part of WildLand Cairngorms: this location is rich with the moth's favourite plants - aspen suckers, wildflowers and thick, damp mossy ground cover.
Using a paintbrush, the conservationists carefully placed the eggs onto the base of the aspen suckers, replicating the moth’s suspected natural egg-laying behaviour. They now hope that the caterpillars will hatch, survive and pupate into adult moths.
Members of the team will return to the site in July and August and use light traps to detect adults, and find out whether this year's release has been a success.
Carl Allott, RIC project officer, said: "With so many eggs released this year it’s a really exciting prospect to find dark bordered beauty moths in the traps in July and August. With the great aspen habitat at this site, it will be fantastic to see the population expand and recover. Getting to this point has involved a lot of hard work from partners, volunteers and land managers."
Follow up monitoring will allow the team to refine reintroduction strategies, increase population numbers and reconnect fragmented populations.
The conservation breeding and release project for this species is delivered as part of the RIC project. This is a partnership between RZSS, Butterfly Conservation Scotland, RSPB Scotland, Cairngorms National Park Authority, Buglife Scotland and NatureScot.
This work is possible thanks to the Cairngorms National Park Authority, Cheeky Panda, players of Postcode Lottery, The John Swires Trust 1989, The Cairngorms Trust and the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot.
Butterfly Conservation
6 May 2026
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