Draycott Sleights is a 61.95 hectares (153.1 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest at Draycott

Draycott, Somerset

Draycott is a small village in Somerset, England, neighbouring the village of Cheddar on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...

 in the Mendip Hills

Mendip Hills

The Mendip Hills is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running east to west between Weston-super-Mare and Frome, the hills overlook the Somerset Levels to the south and the Avon Valley to the north...

, 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...

, notified in 1987.

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,...

 reserve lies 3.5 km (2.2 mi) south east of Cheddar

Cheddar

Cheddar is a large village and civil parish in the Sedgemoor district of the English county of Somerset. It is situated on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, north-west of Wells. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Nyland and Bradley Cross...

. It includes Draycott Sleights, 40.4 hectares (99.8 acre), and Draycott Housegrounds, 10.21 hectares (25.2 acre). Draycott Sleights is part of the Draycott Sleights Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Draycott Housegrounds is a County Wildlife Site. The entire reserve is within the Mendips Scarp Prime Biodiversity Area (PBA) and Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...

 (AONB).

Draycott Sleights supports extensive areas of traditionally managed species-rich unimproved calcareous

Calcareous

Calcareous is an adjective meaning mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate, in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.-In zoology:...

 grassland

Grassland

Grasslands are areas where the vegetation is dominated by grasses and other herbaceous plants . However, sedge and rush families can also be found. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica...

. Additional interest lies in a rich invertebrate fauna. The site is situated on steep south-west facing slopes of the Mendip Hills and ranges in
altitude from 90 m (295.3 ft) to 270 m (885.8 ft). 165 species of flowering plant have been recorded. The varied topography together with the widespread scrub provide a number of locations with ideal conditions for invertebrates supporting a rich 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...

 fauna typical of unimproved calcareous grassland. 32 species of resident breeding butterfly have been recorded to date. The occurrence of Adonis Blue

Adonis Blue

The Adonis Blue is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.-Habitat:The preferred habitat of the adonis blue is calcareous grasslands with hot and dry conditions.-Species decline:...

 (Lysandra bellargus), Silver-studded Blue

Silver-studded Blue

The Silver-studded Blue is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.-Appearance, behavior and distribution:So named due to the silvery blue metallic spots on the underside hind wings. The upperside are a rich, deep iridescent blue in the males with a black border and the characteristic Lycid white...

 (Plebejus argus) and Small Blue

Small Blue

The Small Blue is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.It is found in Europe, Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Tian-Shan, West Siberia, Central Siberia, South Siberia, Russian Far East, Amur, Mongolia, Magadan and Kamchatka....

 (Cupido minimus) is of particular interest. Two nationally scarce species of fly

Fly

True flies are insects of the order Diptera . They possess a pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax...

, Symphoromyia immaculata and Bombylius canescens

Bombylius

Bombylius is a large genus of flies belonging to the family Bombyliidae, known as the bee-flies, due to their striking resemblance to bees and bumblebees, and are distributed through environments world-wide....

 and one nationally scarce species of ant

Ant

Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...

, Myrmica schencki have been recorded for this site.