Great Breach and Copley Woods is a 64.8 hectare

Hectare

The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

 (160 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest 1 km south of Compton Dundon

Compton Dundon

Compton Dundon is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated beside King's Sedge Moor and the Polden Hills, south of Glastonbury and north of Somerton in the South Somerset district. The village has a population of 710...

 and 5 km south-east of Street

Street

A street is a paved public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable...

 in Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, notified in 1972.

This is a Nature Conservation Review Woodland Site, owned and managed by the Somerset Wildlife Trust

Somerset Wildlife Trust

Somerset Wildlife Trust is a wildlife trust covering the county of Somerset, England.The trust, which was established in 1964, aims to safeguard the county's wildlife and wild places for this and future generations and manages almost 80 nature reserves. Examples include Fyne Court, Westhay Moor,...

. The site consists of ancient

Ancient woodland

Ancient woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England and Wales . Before those dates, planting of new woodland was uncommon, so a wood present in 1600 was likely to have developed naturally...

 and semi-natural broadleaved woodland. Two woodland types with a restricted distribution in Britain occur and the site supports a locally important invertebrate

Invertebrate

An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...

 fauna

Fauna

Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...

. Additional interest lies in the fungi of which 470 species have been recorded. 29 resident breeding species of butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 have been recorded. The notable Duke of Burgundy

Hamearis lucina

Hamearis lucina, known as the Duke of Burgundy, is a European butterfly in the family Riodinidae. For many years, it was known as the "Duke of Burgundy Fritillary", because of the adult's similar markings to "true" fritillaries of the family Nymphalidae.-Description:The male has a wingspan of , and...

 (Hamearis lucina) is of particular interest. Moths

Moths

Moths may refer to:* Gustav Moths , German rower* The Moths!, an English indie rock band* MOTHS, members of the Memorable Order of Tin Hats...

 are well represented and include the nationally rare Ethmia terminella

Ethmia terminella

Ethmia terminella is a moth of the family Ethmiidae. It is found in Europe.The wingspan is 17–19 mm. The moth flies from May to July depending on the location.The larvae feed on Echium vulgare.Two subspecies have been described:...

 and Dystebenna stephensi. Three nationally rare species of Hoverfly

Hoverfly

Hoverflies, sometimes called flower flies or syrphid flies, make up the insect family Syrphidae. As their common name suggests, they are often seen hovering or nectaring at flowers; the adults of many species feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae eat a wide range of foods...

: Cheilosia carbonaria

Cheilosia carbonaria

Cheilosia carbonaria is a European species of hoverfly. Like most Cheilosia it is black, and because of this may often be overlooked as a hoverfly...

, Xylota abiens and X. xanthocnema are also present.

External links

• Great Breach Wood from Somerset Wildlife Trust