ONE of the UK’s favourite butterflies, the small tortoiseshell, continued its fight back this summer after years of decline, despite enduring the coldest August since 1993, a survey has revealed.

The small tortoiseshell, whose population has declined by 78 per cent since the 1970s, was the most commonly seen butterfly in Cumbria, according to the Big Butterfly Count.

MORE TOP STORIES: There were 419 counts submitted from the county during the three-week counting period from July 19 to August 10.

After the small tortoiseshell, the other four most commonly seen species in Cumbria were the small white, peacock, green-veined white and large white.

Nationally, the small tortoiseshell was the fourth most commonly seen Big Butterfly Count species, with its numbers up by almost a quarter compared to last summer.

This was the highest ever ranking for it in the Big Butterfly Count, the world’s largest annual insect citizen science survey and represents an amazing comeback for the species.

The summer was also good for the peacock, which was the most abundant butterfly nationwide in this year’s count, its highest ever placing.

Despite being three of the most commonly seen species in Cumbria, the common white butterflies all recorded a disappointing summer.

The large white was down by 65 per cent, the small white by 60 per cent and green-veined white by 47 per cent.

Despite a warm July, August was the coldest for more than 20 years according to the Met Office.

This drop in temperature had a knock-on effect on the majority of the UK’s common summer butterflies, curtailing the flight period of some species and hastening others into early hibernation.

Butterfly Conservation Surveys manager Richard Fox explained: “After a good summer in 2013, the big question this year was whether butterflies would continue to recover and build up even greater numbers or slip back again.

“Thanks to another amazing turnout from the public, we know that the answer is a real mixture.

“The small tortoiseshell had a good year in 2013 and this seems to have acted as a springboard for the species, enabling it to increase massively again this summer.”

Full results are at www.bigbutterflycount.org