The sightings near Coggeshall follow recent reported declines in populations across the UK.

In 2022, Butterfly Conservation reported that numbers had dropped by 80%, external since the 1970s.

David Finkle, chief executive of Markshall, in Coggeshall, said: “This year we have seen a butterfly bomb… It’s almost like a cannon of butterflies has exploded, and they’re absolutely everywhere.”

Of the 59 butterfly species present in the UK, the charity has spotted 28 on its 2,200 acres so far this year.