August 18, 2026

A new species of butterfly for Newcastle!

On Saturday 15th August, a Brown Argus butterfly was spotted in the new City Stadium wildflower meadows during a seed collection session.

The meadows were created in October 2025 by the Wild Ouseburn community in partnership with Newcastle City Council, and with support from the Reece Foundation Ouse Burn Way fund.

Similar in appearance to female Common Blue butterflies, community members have discussed the butterfly with local and national experts over the weekend to confirm its identity.

Intricate details distinguishing between the two, with one particularly prominent identification feature being the presence of a close pair of spots on the underwings of the Brown Argus, almost forming a figure-of-eight.

Excitingly, this is a new species for Wild Ouseburn and for Newcastle, with only a handful of records across the whole of Northumberland!

Since the first observation on Saturday, the butterfly has been seen daily, in a particular area of the meadow which ticks all of its habitat requirements. This species likes short vegetation with exposed ground, and long vegetation nearby to roost in.

As the meadow has been recently scythed by Wild Ouseburn, this has provided ideal habitat conditions. Additionally, Meadow Cranesbill featured in the wildflower mix which was seeded which, as a member of the Geranium family, is also one of the butterfly’s preferred food plants.

This section of meadow has also welcomed Common Blue and Small Copper butterflies, both rare in the area, as identified by Mike Jeffries’ 20 years worth of butterfly surveys.

The unexpected arrival of the Brown Argus is a testament to the benefits of urban rewilding, and of the incredible community effort behind the creation of and ongoing care for the City Stadium wildflower meadows.