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Collard Hill Large Blue phone hot line - 01793 817732

Large Blue butterfly

Web guide

The Large Blue Butterfly

The Large Blue is one of Britain's rarest butterflies and can be ranked as one of the most vulnerable species in the world.

It became extinct in Britain over 25 years ago, as Inside Out has been finding out.

Here in the South West we're doing our best to tempt them back.

Mike Dilger goes on the trail of this iconic species and discovers that attempts to reinstate it across the region are benefiting a wealth of other wildlife too.

Wolf in Sheep's clothing

The life cycle of the Large Blue reveals a devious side to this pretty little creature.

The female lays her eggs on thyme plants.

Striking markings - the Large Blue in close up

When the egg hatches the caterpillar feeds on the thyme for two weeks before falling to the ground.

Here it is discovered by the Myrmica Sabuleti ant, which, persuaded by a heady mixture of pheromones and sugars, adopts the caterpillar and takes it back to the nest.

The caterpillar then sets up camp in a quiet corner of the ants' nest where it spends the next ten months enjoying 'all you can eat' from a buffet of ant eggs and larvae.

Eventually surfacing as a butterfly in all its splendour, it lives for just two to five days.

Fussy critter

Once fully grown, the Large Blue is a fussy critter with particular tastes.

It is dependent upon the right conditions and presence of other species in order to flourish.

Mike Dilger travels to Dartmoor, Somerset and Cornwall where successful management is helping their numbers soar.

Catching a Glimpse

While site x on Dartmoor is still top secret, it is possible to search out the Large Blue.

The Polden Hills in Somerset are the best place in the country to spot them.

Other butterflies benefit from the Large Blue

The Somerset Wildlife Trust manage a reserve, and hold open days for the public.

Contact them to book yourself a place, but be warned, demand is high and names are picked out of a hat if oversubscribed.

Collard Hill in Somerset is an open access National Trust site, and they run a Large Blue phone line - 01793 817732 - from early June to mid-July.

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Treseders

Treseder's treasures - a landscape transformed

For the first time on television, Inside Out tells the story of the Treseders of Truro, a family transformed the landscape of Cornwall.

James Treseder opened Cornwall's very first nursery in Truro in 1839.

His son John at first spurned the family business and went to Australia to seek his fortune as a prospector.

But it wasn't long before his green fingers got the better of him and he ditched the hunt for gold in favour of gardening, opening successful nurseries in Australia.

Tropical paradise

John returned to Cornwall in 1895, armed with an extensive knowledge of sub-tropical plants.

He took over the nursery from his father and set about cultivating tropical plants here.

Treseder - an amazing legacy for a new generation

As a result the Treseder nursery enjoyed a golden age, supplying plants for prestigious Cornish gardens like Trewidden and Trelissick.

Although a harsh winter and financial difficulties marked the end for the Treseder nursery in the 1970s, their legacy is there for all to see in the lush colourful gardens of Cornwall.

If you want to recreate a tropical Treseder garden of your own you can visit the nursery of James Treseder, John Garland Treseder's great-great-grandson.

He's following in the family's footsteps and has opened a nursery near St Austell, supplying their trademark flora to a new generation of gardeners.

How to find the nursery...

Treseders Nursery, Wallcottage Nursery, Lockengate, St Austell Cornwall, PL26 8RU.

Tel: 01208 832 234

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Longreach House

The inside story - Longreach House in Cornwall

Inside Out South West also looks into the unsettling number of suicides and unexplained deaths at Cornwall's mental health care unit - Longreach House.

We tell the story of patients who attended Longreach and killed themselves while in its care.

Their relatives believe that communication failures were partly to blame for their close one's deaths.

One such patient was Betty.

The day before she disappeared from Longreach, she met with her psychologist who recommended that she should not go out unsupervised.

But Betty was allowed out unsupervised the following day.

At the inquest, and although they had no written record of it - the Trust claimed that Betty had been taken on a supervised walk soon after her meeting with the psychiatrist.

She was therefore allowed out alone the following day.

Betty was found dead several weeks later, and is believed to have killed herself.

Concerns raised

During Inside Out's investigation, carers revealed that they think the unit was run under permanent crisis management.

They also describe the new 拢6 million unit as confusing for patients.

We also reveal concerns raised by the Healthcare Commission after they inspected Longreach.

One of the criticisms in the report was that, "some senior managers appear not to appreciate the problems faced by staff".

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