BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-05)

26 BBC Wildlife May 2020

WILD NEWS

IN NUMBERS

14%

increaseinlong-tailedtit

sightingsinUKgardenshas

beenreportedbytheRSPBBig

GardenBirdwatch2020.Wren

andcoaltitreportsarealsoup.

2019

wasthebestyearforBritish

butterfliessince1997,

accordingtothelatest

UKButterflyMonitoring

Surveyresults.

100

yearsormoreis theageofsome

whalesharks.Researchersused

datafromatomicbombtests

conductedduringtheColdWar

toobtainthisestimate.

NEWSPECIESDISCOVERY

FINDOUTMORE

PhytoKeys:

bit.ly/2Rg068f

WHAT IS IT? As carnivores go,

butterworts are at the daintier

end of the spectrum. No big teeth

or sharp claws, but delicate pink

flowers nodding on slender stalks

and plump rosettes of sticky leaves

that trap and digest insects – a vital

source of sustenance in the plants’

nutrient-poor habitats.

WHERE IS IT? This new member of the

genus was found growing directly on the

bare rock of a vertical sandstone cli in

the spray of a waterfall in the Peruvian

Andes. The first specimens were

collected above the celebrated tombs

built by the mysterious Chachapoyas

culture at Mummy Lake. SB

Pinguicula

rosmarieae

Aphid: hekakoskinen/iStockphoto/Getty; moth: Gucio_55/iStockphoto/Getty; Pinguicula rosmarieae: Lazaro Santa Cruz Cervera

Don’t be deceived by

the small, pretty flower

• this carnivorous
  plant traps insects.

T

heRothamstedInsectSurvey,a

long-termstudyofmothsand

aphids,hasshedlightonhowthese

twoinsectgroupsarefaring.

Between 1969 and2016,scientists

fromRothamstedResearchcollected

dailydatafroma totalof 137 traps

acrosstheUK(112lighttrapsfor

moths; 25 suctiontrapsforaphids).

The study has revealed that, overall,

moths have declined by 31 per cent, with

losses specifically in coastal, urban and

woodland habitats. In contrast, overall

numbers of aphids have remained

more or less constant. But while rarer

species have held steady or even slightly

ncreased, the three most common aphids

• the bird cherry oat, the apple grass and
  the English grain – have all declined.
  Given these three are all crop pests,
  a likely explanation for their demise
  is insecticide use. But the reasons for
  the moth declines are less clear-cut. “It
  would seem unlikely that climate alone is
  responsible, and whilst land-use change
  has been implicated in the past, it does
  not fully explain why moths are declining
  in semi-natural environments, where
  other pressures, such as light pollution,
  urbanisation and disturbance may also
  play a part,” says James Bell, head of
  the survey. Sarah McPherson

FIND OUT MORE

Rothamsted Research:

bit.ly/3b7AYIP

British moths

declining, aphid

numbers stable

INSECTS

The white

ermine moth

and English

grain aphid

(above) have

declined.