
Farmland butterflies have flourished thanks to last year's hot summer, the charity Butterfly Conservation says.
The annual Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey (WCBS) recorded almost double the number of insects compared with the previous year.
Long, sunny periods provided perfect breeding conditions for some of the UK's brightest species, it suggested.
But experts warned the mild winter could reverse the insects' fortunes if they emerged too early for spring.
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Butterfly bounty
Peacock butterfly
See Britain's beautiful butterflies in slow motion
Watch an orange-tip emerge from its chrysalis
Meet the gatekeeper of the hedgerows
The survey has been run by Butterfly Conservation, the British Trust for Ornithology and The
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/26242496