WILDLIFE experts are releasing a butterfly back into the wild on mossland near Leigh -- and it possesses a special power to predict the weather!

The Large Heath butterfly is being reintroduced to Astley Moss by the Wildlife Trust -- 90 years after it disappeared.

The butterfly, nicknamed the Manchester Argus by Victorian enthusiasts, is sensitive to the weather and varies the number and size of spots on its wings depending on the amount of sunshine.

Wildlife expert Martyn Walker said: "The Large Heath butterfly is orangey brown in colour with darker coloured dots on the upper and lower wings and it is these dots that make it so remarkable.

"Although almost no two butterflies are the same, it has been found that the number and size of the dots strongly relate to the average number of hours of local sunshine."

The Manchester Argus was given its name in Victorian times because it was so prevalent on Chat Moss.

But because of large-scale peat extraction, which destroyed the butterfly's habitat, the creature had disappeared from the area by 1911.

The Wildlife Trust has decided to undertake a programme to reintroduce the butterfly into special nature conservation areas in the remaining mossland.

The first stage is to replant bog plants, which have also died away, such as cross-leaved heath and bog rosemary.

Mr Walker explained: "Since the mossland has been badly degraded in the past, the first stage of the programme is to reintroduce some of the bog plants which have been lost from the site.

"These plants flower at exactly the right time of year for the butterflies to be emerging which is when they need an immediate source of nectar.

"For this reason it is essential the plants are established before the butterflies are reintroduced."

The butterflies, of the lowland Davus variety, will be taken from other populations in the North-west to be brought to Astley Moss.

There are only two places in the region where Large Heath butterflies now live -- The Forest of Bowland and Garstang.

Mr Walker added: "It is possible that conditions may cause the butterflies to alter over time and become distinct to Manchester again.

"Although it is too early to say yet, in the near future the Manchester Argus may yet be flitting around the mosslands of Greater Manchester."