Ihave been fascinated by insects all my life. One of my earliest memories is of finding, at the age of five or six, some stripy yellow-and-black caterpillars feeding on weeds in the school playground. I put them in my empty lunchbox, and took them home. Eventually they transformed into handsome magenta and black moths. This […]
Tag: butterflies
Wildlife garden ideas – 10 ways to transform your backyard into a nature-friendly plot
Wildlife garden ideas are having something of a moment. With many of us spending more time on our gardens, allotments and window-boxes at the moment, it’s the perfect opportunity to make a few changes to help our local wildlife as well. The sound of a robin singing at dusk can be breathtaking, and few things […]
Western monarch butterflies are nearly extinct. California has a plan to save them
In one of the biggest mobilizations of resources and talent ever organized to save an insect, the state of California is teaming with conservation groups, biologists and scores of citizen scientists to rescue the western monarch butterfly from the brink of extinction. To do this, they are placing their hopes on an unassuming, poisonous plant […]
Butterfly numbers plummeting in US west as climate crisis takes toll
The varied, and beautiful, butterfly species that dot the US west are being cut down by the climate crisis, new research has found, with rising temperatures helping cause a steep decline in butterfly numbers over the past 40 years. There has been a 1.6% reduction in the total number of butterflies observed west of the […]
Death by 1,000 cuts: Are major insect losses imperiling life on Earth?
Chances are, the works of the world’s insects touch your lips every day. The coffee or tea you savor, both are insect pollinated. Apples, oranges, cabbages, cashews, cherries, carrots, broccoli, watermelon, garlic, cinnamon, basil, sunflower seeds, almonds, canola oil — all are insect pollinated. Honey, dyes, even some vaccines require insects to come to fruition. […]
Petition: Monarch Butterfly Denied Protection by Trump Administration
Despite a rapidly declining population and an important ecological niche, the U.S Fish and Wildlife service voted against listing the Monarch Butterfly as “Threatened” under the Endangered Species Act on Tuesday. A change in its status may have led to increased protective measures for the species and its habitat. The US Fish and Wildlife Service […]
Petition: Western Monarch Butterflies Near Extinction With Less than 2000 Reported in this Year’s Thanksgiving Count
The state of our planet’s pollinators took a big blow in 2020. The annual Thanksgiving count of Western Monarch butterflies this year by the Xerces Society yielded less than 2000 individuals, a tragic threshold that has experts worried about the future of the species. In the 1980s, as many as 3 to 10 million Monarch […]
Butterfly numbers fall by 84% in Netherlands over 130 years – study
Butterflies have declined by at least 84% in the Netherlands over the last 130 years, according to a study, confirming the crisis affecting insect populations in western Europe. Researchers analysed 120,000 butterflies caught by collectors between 1890 and 1980 as well as more recent scientific data from more than 2 million sightings to identify dramatic […]