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You are here: Home / What Are Swallowtails & Birdwings? / British Swallowtail

British Swallowtail

As a subspecies of the common and widespread Papilio machaon, the British Swallowtail is not classified as under threat in The IUCN Red List. However, in the UK the subspecies P.m. britannicus is an endangered butterfly.

The British Swallowtail, Papilio machaon britannicus, is a rare subspecies now confined to the Norfolk Broads, an extensive area of wetlands in East Anglia. This is the UK’s largest and most spectacular butterfly, with a wingspan of 9cm.

Found mainly in nature reserves that have benefited from reed-cutting and scrub clearance, the species was once more widely distributed in the fens of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Repeated attempts to reintroduce the British Swallowtail to Wicken Fen have failed. An unpublished ten year Action Plan was completed in 1995 by L.K. Barnett and M.S. Warren and published by Butterfly Conservation.

Reports in 2010 suggested that programmes of habitat management by the partners involved in the action plan resulted in increased numbers of the butterfly. Conservation programmes continue in Norfolk, mainly through the work of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and the RSPB.

Although the butterfly appears to be secure in nature reserves in the short to medium term, these fenlands are potentially at risk from sea-level rise and salinisation which would destroy the foodplant Milk Parsley, Peucedanum palustre. The Trust is keen to explore ways in which the butterfly could be introduced to new, more secure sites across East Anglia and held a workshop at Wheatfen Reserve on 27 June 2018 to discuss the matter. See the report here.

Specimens of both foodplant and caterpillars are known to be stolen from reserves, most recently in July 2017.

To read the agenda for our meeting at Wheatfen on the Conservation of the British Swallowtail click here, and for the full report click here. The meeting was well reported in the Guardian here.

How Hill Trust and National Nature Reserve provide important habitat for the British Swallowtail. Credit: Mark Collins

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    Latest News

    Richard Bennett joins SBBT as Honorary Advisor on Captive Breeding

    20th July 2021

    Richard has bred butterflies for 55 years, starting in West Yorkshire and now in Watamu, Kenya. A zoologist trained at Oxford, for 30 years he has owned a butterfly farm supplying live exhibitions in USA and UK. His insight and knowledge of captive breeding will be key to the success of SBBT’s conservation projects.

    Richard Markham joins SBBT as Honorary Coordinator on the Natewa Swallowtail

    14th July 2021

    SBBT is delighted to welcome Richard as Honorary Coordinator for Natewa Swallowtail studies in Fiji, where he is closely involved with our project with NatureFiji Marequeti-Viti to conserve and breed Papilio natewa,  a very rare species discovered only in 2017. Richard is the Director of Kokomana Pte Ltd., a cocoa plantation and chocolate company based […]

    “Saving Swallowtails” Conference Now Available Online

    30th June 2021

    On 12 June 2021 SBBT held a very successful online videoconference on “Saving Swallowtails”. Fourteen presentations highlighted the most advanced swallowtail conservation projects in the world, ranging from Florida, Jamaica, Brazil and Kenya to the UK, Italy, Singapore, Australia, PNG and Fiji. These presentations are now freely available to download from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdB29sTt1KFJPc76X2PfEjg/playlists

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    OUR APPEAL

    Swallowtails and birdwings are beautiful and graceful butterflies – who wouldn’t love to see them dancing in the sunlight or sipping nectar from wildflowers? But many species are under threat from agriculture, forestry and climate change. We have ideas, enthusiasm and a vision for the future. Will you help us to achieve our goals?

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    We do four things to help swallowtails and birdwings: we raise financial resources; convene networks and partnerships; catalyse action, and provide scientific and technical support.

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