Norfolk Police probe 'rare' Swallowtail caterpillar theft

The caterpillars will only feed on the plants that were stolen

Rod Horne Swallowtail caterpillar on milk parsley — The caterpillars will only feed on the plants that were stolen

The theft of "scarce" plants and "extremely rare" caterpillars is being investigated by police.

A number of swallowtail butterfly caterpillars were feeding on five milk parsley plants dug up from Hickling Broad in Norfolk.

Norfolk Wildlife Trust said the plants were "internationally protected" and the butterflies only found in that area.

It was an "appalling wildlife crime", the trust said.

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Found mainly in East Anglian marshland, milk parsley is the only plant the green and black striped caterpillars of Britain's largest butterfly, the swallowtail, will feed on.

The plant is listed under the World Conservation Union (IUCN 2001) Red List as vulnerable.

It is unlikely the caterpillars will survive to be butterflies if they are away from the reserve for long, the trust said

Ian Forster Swallowtail butterfly — It is unlikely the caterpillars will survive to be butterflies if they are away from the reserve for long, the trust said

The swallowtail butterfly is extremely rare and also only found in the wild in the fens of the Norfolk Broads, the wildlife trust said.

"This is an appalling wildlife crime to dig up these rare plants from an internationally important nature reserve and deliberately take rare swallowtail butterfly caterpillars," chief executive Brendan Joyce said.

The theft is being treated as a wildlife crime by police

Ian Davis Swallowtail caterpillars on milk parsley — The theft is being treated as a wildlife crime by police

"It is very unlikely that the plants or the caterpillars will survive for any significant amount of time away from the reserve."

A trust spokeswoman said the caterpillars may have been taken for a personal butterfly collection, but added there was also a market for the swallowtail because of its rarity.

The theft happened at the Hickling reserve sometime between Friday 7 July and Tuesday 11 July 2017, Norfolk Police said.

It is being treated as a wildlife offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.