THE small tortoiseshell butterfly has continued to fight back against long-term declines this year, an annual survey has revealed.

The familiar butterfly, which has lost three-quarters of its populations since the 1970s, saw its numbers increase by more than one- fifth on last summer's figures in the Big Butterfly Count.

It was the second good year in a row for the species, despite an "August autumn", with the country experiencing the coldest August in 20 years, and was the fourth most commonly seen butterfly in the count.

Overall it was a mixed picture for butterflies, with peacocks topping the table with 95,551 sightings submitted by members of the public.

Common blue numbers were up by 55 per cent, red admirals were up by 43 per cent, speckled wood sightings increased by 28 per cent and the small tortoiseshell rose by 22 per cent.

But common white ­butterflies all had a bad year, with the large white seeing numbers tumble by two-thirds (65 per cent) on last year's count, while the small white was down 60 per cent and the green-veined white by 47 per cent.

The majority of species declined compared to 2013's good summer, but most were well above the levels seen in the washout weather of 2012, Butterfly Conservation said.