One of Britain’s most widespread butterflies is the Small Copper but 2015 was its worst year on record and it is in a state of significant decline.
Numbers in 2015 fell by almost a quarter from those in 2014.
Over the last century the Small Copper's decline has mainly been as a result of habitat loss but the weather in the last few years has exacerbated this.
Several other widespread butterflies suffered declines last year with Peacocks down 21% and Small Tortoiseshells were down a massive 44%.
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I'm not seeing any butterflies and other insects are down in numbers as well but I can't quantify it.
ReplyDeleteThat's worrying, and I guess the decline does not stop with butterflies; other flying insects - so important for pollination and of course as source of energy for birds and other animals - will suffer from the same loss of habitat and unfavourable weather.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures, heartbreaking statistics.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I'm not knowledgable about butterflies, I follow quite a few accounts on twitter of Butterfly fans because I love looking at the photos.
ReplyDeleteHopefully this and next years will be better for the butterflies!..
ReplyDeleteReceived your wonderful dragonfly card today, with the Atalanta (red admiral) stamp, thank you very much!!!
I'll post it tomorrow.
That is distinctly unwelcome news.
ReplyDeleteNever seen the copper one around here, but the two latter ones I used to see in a park nearby where I live. They've totally changed that area in the past couple of years though (digging up both the park and the near surroundings) and I haven't seen very many butterflies since then. I hope they'll return...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. The beautiful things of the world seem to be in decline.
ReplyDelete