Hundreds of caterpillars have hatched amid hot weather in Scotland, boosting numbers of the dark bordered beauty moth — a breed on the brink of extinction in the UK.
Conservation staff at Highland Wildlife Park arrived at work on Tuesday to find 127 of the creatures had emerged overnight. By Thursday afternoon the figure had risen to 712.
Helen Taylor, conservation programme manager for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which runs Highland Wildlife Park and Edinburgh Zoo, said it had been hectic, adding: “All the caterpillars are hatching early.”
The conservation team at Highland Wildlife Park said the number of moths emerging was up to 712 by Thursday
This particular breed metamorphosise into a dark bordered beauty moth, which can only be found at three sites in the UK.
The moths like to live near tall trees, as well as open and
