Een veldstudie van de Grote vuurvlinder Lycaena dispar batavus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in de Weerribben door de VVE WG Dagvlinders

In July 2024, an estimated 2,500 adults and 50,000 eggs of the Large Copper butterfly Lycaena dispar batavus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) were found in the Weerribben nature reserve in the Netherlands. More accurate methods are needed to confirm this. The host plant Rumex hydrolapathum Huds. (Polygonaceae) (Great Water Dock) occurred almost exclusively in riparian and transition zones, and the plants are rather small compared to those found in more nutrient-rich marshes. On these rather sparse host plants, female Large Copper butterflies lay multiple eggs, both on the upper and lower surfaces of the leaves. The majority of the host plants are utilised in this process. In sphagnum moss reed beds that were too acidified, no host plants were found and consequently, no eggs either. The various stages of the Large Copper butterfly were only found in an intermediate stage between siltation and acidification.