Conservation charity says climate change means migratory species is increasingly staying in the UK.
Climate change is seeing a species of migratory butterfly stay in the UK over the winter instead of returning to Europe and Africa, experts say.
The red admiral is a common sight in British and Irish gardens with its distinctive dark brown body, red stripes and white patches, but is actually a migrant species from continental Europe and North Africa. It migrates north to the UK each spring and summer, and the females lay eggs. The Big Butterfly Count found between 14 July and 2 August this year there was a 400% increase in sightings of red admirals.
Butterfly Conservation, which works to reverse the decline of the most threatened species, said with global temperatures rising the need for the red admiral to return to continental Europe and Africa is reducing, and it is possible a greater number will now be spending winter in the UK.
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