The Observer - 11.08.2019

• The Observer
  Focus 11.08.19 37

butterfl ies is the current cli-

mate emergency. And, as with any

response to higher temperatures,

there will be winners and losers.

Common and adaptable species,

such as the peacock and comma ,

have already begun to extend their

ranges northwards into Scotland,

and are likely to continue to do

well as the climate heats up. But, as

Marren points out, rare and local-

ised species are less likely to be able

to respond to change, especially if,

as predicted, it changes the nature

of their more specialised habitats.

One example is the wood white ,

a delicate butterfl y found in wood-

lands in a few parts of southern

England and the West Midlands,

where it can be seen fl uttering

along woodland rides and the shel-

tered edges of clearings. Although

higher temperatures should in the-

ory allow the wood white to shift

its range northwards, its inability

to cross large swathes of unsuita-

ble habitat means that it is unable to

take advantage of a warming world.

We would also expect that, as

average spring and summer tem-

peratures continue to rise, new

butterfl y species will cross the

Channel, adding to our paltry total

of fewer than 60 species (com-

pared with almost 500 in Europe as

a whole).

Yet despite the rise in records of

continental European species such

as the large tortoiseshell, long-tailed

blue and the spectacular queen

of Spain fritillary during the past

decade, none has yet managed to

establish permanent breeding pop-

ulations here.

That’s in sharp contrast to other

groups of fl ying insects, such as

moths and damselfl ies, of which

several species have successfully

colonised in Britain. Surely it is only

a matter of time before those new

butterfl ies join them.

So, to sum up, some of Britain’s

butterfl ies are enjoying the benefi ts

of hotter-than-average summers –

at least in the short term – while,

as with all our wild creatures, they

face an uncertain future in a rapidly

changing world.

What is certain is that their loss

would be a condemnation of our

lack of stewardship of the natural

world. For, perhaps more than any

other living creatures, butterfl ies

symbolise that rare combination

of inspirational beauty and fragil-

ity, perfectly summed up by Marren

in his book Rainbow Dust : “I believe

that the fl utterings [of a butter-

fl y’s wing] can summon up at least

a small breeze in the human soul.

Let it blow ... and let it remind we

earthbound humans everywhere of

the power and wonder of the natu-

ral world.”

Stephen Moss is a naturalist, author

and lecturer based in Somerset

Painted ladies

are enjoying a

boom because of

the hot weather.

Butterfl y

Conservation

 Persuading

butterfl ies to

choose your

garden is

relatively simple:

provide plants

that produce

the nectar on

which the adults

will feed

 Native wild

fl owers are often

considered to be

more suitable

than non-native

ones, but the real

key is making

sure there are

nectar-rich

fl owers in

bloom from

April through

to October

 Letting part

of your garden

go wild, with

nettles, thistles,

grasses and other

“weeds”, will

provide a place

for caterpillars

to feed and

pupate, ensuring

you have a

new generation

of butterfl ies

later on

 In autumn,

leave fallen

fruit on the

ground: painted

ladies and red

admirals love

feeding on

their fermenting

juices

 Avoid using

pesticides and

chemicals

HOW TO

ATTRACT

VISITORS

S

uddenly, painted

ladies are everywhere.

From roadside verges

and patches of waste

ground to the fl ower-

beds in my Somerset

garden, I am seeing dozens of

these attractive black, white and

orange butterfl ies, as they fl it from

fl ower to fl ower, feeding hungrily

on nectar.

They’re not the only butter-

fl ies currently on the wing. As the

last meadow browns , pale and

faded from the sun, straggle along

the hedgerows, I’m seeing newly

minted gatekeepers and com-

mon blues wherever I go. And, on

a recent visit to my coastal patch,

I came across two exquisite little

butterfl ies, brown argus and small

heath : the latter the 21st species of

butterfl y I have recorded there in

less than fi ve years.

This second (mainly) hot and dry

summer in a row is good news for

butterfl ies – and butterfl y watchers.

The charity Butterfl y Conservation

agrees: its latest statistics for the

common blue show that last sum-

mer, numbers in England were up a

whopping 110% on the year before.

Butterfl y Conservation predicts that

this year’s hot weather could mean

that the species will have its best

ever summer.

But we should remember that

butterfl y populations have always

fl uctuated from year to year,

depending largely on the prevail-

ing weather conditions. To assess

these fi gures more carefully, we

really need to look at the long-term

trends, which are rather less posi-

tive. For many of Britain’s favour-

ite summer butterfl ies, including

the once-common and familiar

small tortoiseshell , there has been a

steady decline over the past 40 years

or so. This is due to a combination

of factors, of which the most serious

are the intensifi cation of farming,

combined with a more general frag-

mentation and loss of habitat.

Peter Marren , a naturalist whose

latest book, Emperors, Admirals and

Chimney Sweepers , tells the com-

pelling story of the weird and won-

derful names of our butterfl ies and

moths, sounds a note of caution

about the recent glut of sightings.

While accepting that warm weather

is good for adult butterfl ies, he

points out that it may not be quite

so favourable for their offspring,

which often rely on a specifi c plant

on which their caterpillars feed.

“Where butterfl ies come unstuck

in prolonged hot weather is if their

larval food plants dry up – for

example, if the chalkhill and adonis

blues fi nd only stunted, dried-up

horseshoe vetch to lay their eggs

on.” As he points out, the famous

long, hot summer of 1976 was a

bumper year for these species, but

the following year, 1977, a very poor

one, as the majority of caterpillars

failed to survive.

He also notes that the recent

mass appearance of painted ladies

• recalling the extraordinary sum-
  mer of 2009, when tens of millions
  of these butterfl ies could be seen
  throughout the UK – has absolutely
  nothing to do with the weather here
  in Britain. Instead, it indicates that
  conditions were favourable on the

fringes of the Sahara in Morocco,

where these butterfl ies came from.

The ones we are seeing now are

actually the offspring of an earlier

generation, which arrived in the UK

back in the late spring. These but-

terfl ies are now feeding to boost

their energy levels in preparation for

fl ying south again.

Research by scientists at Butterfl y

Conservation confi rms that the

long-term population trend of some

of our most charismatic insects is

indeed downward, with more than

three-quarters of the UK’s butter-

fl ies and two-thirds of larger moths

in decline.

This has a knock-on effect on

ecosystems and species: cuckoo

chicks, for example, rely on their

host parents fi nding large moth

caterpillars for them to survive.

But partly because of the short-

age of these, cuckoo numbers have

dropped by two-thirds since the

early 1980s.

We need to know more about

population trends in Britain’s but-

terfl ies – as we do for any declining

species and groups – so Butterfl y

Conservation urges people to take

part in the charity’s annual Big

Butterfl y Count. As its spokesper-

son Katie Callaghan explains: “This

will provide a picture of how but-

terfl ies and larger moths have fared

this year, compared with every sum-

mer over the last 10 years.”

L

ast year more than

100,000 people took

part in the survey, log-

ging almost a million

individual butterfl ies

during just 15 minutes

of observations. This year’s count

ends today , and so, weather permit-

ting, you still have a chance to take

part. As Sir David Attenborough ,

the organisation’s president, has

pointed out, doing so helps contrib-

ute to our wider understanding of

the UK’s wildlife: “The Big Butterfl y

Count is about more than just

counting butterfl ies – we’ll be tak-

ing the pulse of nature.”

One of the biggest threats – and

opportunities – facing Britain’s

‘It’s more than counting

butterfl ies – we’ll be

taking the pulse of nature’

Sir David Attenborough

A red admiral

soaks up the sun

in Whitley Bay.

Photograph by

Owen Humpreys/

PA

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