Prince William and Kate Middleton shared an adorable new photo of Princess Charlotte cradling a butterfly in her hands

• The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, posted a new picture of Princess Charlotte on Instagram.
• Charlotte, 6, showed off her butterfly handling skills in the photo shared on Sunday.
• The royal family called the colorful creatures "vital" while taking part in a butterfly count.

Princess Charlotte, the daughter of Prince William and Kate Middleton, cradled a colorful butterfly in an adorable new photograph shared by the royals on Sunday.

The picture, which shows the six-year-old princess gazing down at the black and orange striped creature, was posted to the official Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Instagram account.

The duke and duchess shared the photo in support of the Big Butterfly Count, an annual initiative run by British charity Butterfly Conservation.

Captioning the photo, Princess Charlotte's parents said Butterfly Conservation is "encouraging us all to count these incredible creatures because not only are they beautiful creatures to be around but they are also extremely important."

"Butterflies are vital parts of the ecosystem as both pollinators and components of the food chain," they wrote.

Butterfly Conservation, headed up by wildlife conservationist Sir David Attenborough, launched the annual Big Butterfly Count back in 2010 in order to encourage the public to survey the UK's butterfly population, which charity's official website says has been in decline since the 1970s.

This year's initiative ran from July 16 to August 8. According to the charity's interactive map documenting the progress, 99,147 people were involved in counting over 1 million butterflies across the UK.

It also appears that Princess Charlotte is following in the footsteps of her father Prince William's passion for wildlife conservation. According to his bio on the Royal UK website, the prince, 39, sees "protecting the natural environment for future generations" as one of his key priorities.

"Let us not tell our children the sad tale of how we watched as the last elephants, rhinos and tigers died out, but the inspiring story of how we turned the tide and preserved them for all humanity," he is quoted on the website as saying.