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Photos show previously extinct butterflies taking flight

The Chequered Skipper and the Large Blue butterflies died out in England due to habitat loss but have been reintroduced in a breeding plan.

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Rare Glanville Fritillary Butterfly. (Andrew Fusek Peters via SWNS).

 By Adam Dutton via SWNS

Remarkable close-up pictures captured two butterflies for the first time since they were brought back from EXTINCTION.

The Chequered Skipper and the Large Blue butterflies died out in England due to habitat loss but have been reintroduced in a breeding plan.

Photographer Andrew Fusek Peters snapped the shots while he was completing his list of the 60 UK butterfly species and believes he is the first to capture them.

Andrew, 57, said: “The Chequered Skipper became extinct in England in 1976, it’s been in Scotland due to a loss of habitat.

Rare Glanville Fritillary Butterfly. (Andrew Fusek Peters via SWNS)
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“They’ve been working in secret to try an establish a new habitat. They've just announced this spring that the project has been successful.

“I'm pretty sure I am the first person to capture these amazing creatures.

“The large blue went extinct in England in the 1990’s, has had several successful projects recently which is great as it’s such a beautiful blue butterfly.

"To get close ups of these butterflies, I don’t think anyone has managed this.

“I’ve been capturing butterflies for my book.

“It is one of the most difficult things to do, they fly off in every direction very fast.

"Butterflies are so fragile, but so beautiful. To see them flying, is magnificent.”

Andrew managed to create an image which depicts the the butterfly in different stages of flight, using several different images of the same insect and weaving them together.

He added: “The technology is there now and the skill set. I'm almost like a pioneer of butterfly photography, no one else does this.

“It's happening all so fast. The human eye can’t see that. I'm freezing time to show movement that looks a blur."

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