E-shaped banks built in Bedfordshire to help rare butterflies

The banks in Bedfordshire will eventually be covering in grass and flowers

Wildlife experts are building e-shaped mounds at two nature reserves to protect some rare butterflies.

The shape of the banks at Tottenhoe and Pegsdon in Bedfordshire will create both warm and cool environments.

It is hoped it will help species like chalk hill blue and duke of burgundy to survive against climate change.

Conservationist Ryan Clark said "lots of butterflies are moving northwards" because of rising temperatures.

It is hoped the project will help butterfly species like the chalk hill blue

The officer for the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust said there were species that "can't move northwards".

"We need to be look as how we create habitats in our nature reserves and the wider landscape," he said.

Butterflies are caught in a net and their temperature taken with a small probe

The project is a collaboration between the trust and the University of Cambridge zoology department.

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Researchers from the university will take the temperature of butterflies to monitor how they are coping with climate change.

Dr Andrew Bladon hopes the banks will help butterflies who struggle to control their body temperature

Ecologist Dr Andrew Bladon, from the university, said: "What we are interested in here is whether these banks can help butterflies cope with these changes [in climate]."

He said the north-facing slopes of the bank would be cooler and the south facing slopes would be warmer.

Dr Bladon said he would then look at whether "that helps butterflies that struggle with temperature control to adjust their body temperature in response to changes".

Research on the butterflies using the banks should start next spring