1 in 10 butterflies at risk of extinction

• The large Blue butterfly became extinct in Britain in 1979. Despite a successful reintroduction it remains at risk in Europe

The large Blue butterfly, despite having been successfully reintroduced to the UK after dying out here, is endangered throughout Europe, according to the European Red List assessment of species at risk.

And the Duke of Burgundy and Lulworth Skipper, which both suffered their worst year in the UK last year, are in decline in many countries across the continent.

Along with some 22 species of butterfly, the list shows that 29 types of the "saproxylic" beetles – those dependent on rotting wood – and five different dragonflies are also at risk of becoming extinct globally, according to the assessment led by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Conservationists said a loss of habitats, including traditionally-farmed grasslands, woodlands and wetlands, was the major factor affecting insect species.

Dr Martin Warren, author of the report on Europe's butterflies and chief executive of Butterfly Conservation in the UK, said insects were being hit by loss of grassland habitats due to both intensification of agriculture and abandonment of farming land.

Nearly a third, 31 per cent, of Europe's 435 butterfly species have declining populations, the report found.

While the large Blue butterfly's reintroduction in the UK has proved a success, it is "very much the exception" as it is declining in every country where it occurs, Dr Warren said.

But conservation efforts to re-establish populations in this country after the butterfly vanished in 1979 showed what can be achieved if the right steps are taken, he said.

While no indigenous Scottish breeds are affected by the list, Dr Warren said that Scotland's butterfly population is in a state of flux.

"On the one hand, you are acquiring species from down south – such as the comma, peacock and small skipper – which are moving north because, we think, of the warming brought by climate change, but other indigenous ones are declining," he said.

Many of the butterflies worst hit are species which choose the coastline for their habitat, including the Dingy Skipper, Small Blue and the Grayling, who have suffered as farming patterns shifted inland.

However, Dr Warren said that the combination of warming and Scotland's surviving far flung countryside meant that the pace of change in the country's butterfly population was "phenomenal".

Most butterflies at risk are in southern Europe, said Annabelle Cuttelod, IUCN co-ordinator of the European Red List.

Along with changes to agriculture, species are threatened by climate change, forest fires and the expansion of tourism, she said.

Dr Warren said most of the butterflies listed occurred on grassland or habitats which had been managed by humans and had benefited from traditional agricultural processes.

But now, he said, "traditional systems are disappearing in a big way. In the 1950s and 1960s we had massive losses of habitat in the UK, and it is still going on to a lesser extent, but in Europe big changes have been going on in the last five to ten years."

He added: "We lost a lot of our flower-rich meadows in the 50s and 60s, while they are losing theirs at a rate of knots now."

Intensification of agriculture is destroying habitat in some areas, while grasslands in many mountain regions in the Alps and Pyrenees are being abandoned and falling into a poor condition because livestock farming is not financially viable.

Dr Warren called for more support for traditional farming systems to help insects such as butterflies, which he said were very good indicators of changes to the environment.

Jane Smart, director of the IUCN biodiversity action group, said: "When talking about threatened species, people tend to think of larger, more charismatic creatures such as pandas or tigers, but we mustn't forget that the small species on our planet are just as important and are also in need of conservation action.

"Butterflies for instance, play a hugely pivotal role as pollinators in the ecosystems in which they live."