Europe’s grassland butterfly population has plummeted in the past two decades, new research published on Tuesday shows, with a near halving in the numbers of key species since 1990. The precipitous decline has been blamed on poor agricultural practices and pesticides, by the European Environment Agency, which carried out the research. Falling numbers of butterflies […]
Tag: butterflies
Warm summer helps butterflies bounce back in the UK
The Azores high is seeing small tortoiseshells and meadow browns returning to gardens and the countryside in heartening numbers after butterflies suffered their worst year on record in 2012. People are being urged to help measure how these insects are bouncing back in the sunshine by joining the Big Butterfly Count, the world’s largest butterfly […]
Last week in wildlife – in pictures
Fighting siskins, zebra-snouted seahorses and the world’s oldest wombat feature in last week’s pick of images from the natural world. This article was written and published by the Guardian UK.
On the trail of the large tortoiseshell, the UK’s most elusive butterfly
It was, joked Matthew Oates, a “lunatic fringe” mission. Scouring the hedgerows for the caterpillar of a butterfly that has been extinct for more than half a century might not be most people’s idea of fun, but Oates, a National Trust naturalist, has spent 50 summers tracking down the most elusive British butterflies. I joined […]
Flower Hill Farm Butterflies of 2012
Just as butterflies are beginning to fly in our fields and gardens I am creating collages of the butterflies I captured in 2012. It has been a joyous task taking me through much of the winter months. These are just some of the butterflies that live in our wildlife habitat at Flower Hill Farm in […]
Vultures in Spain
There are four different species of vultures breeding on the Iberian peninsula and probably the Lammergeier is the most impressive of them all. It’s also one of the birds on most raptor enthusiast’s wish list and not always an easy bird to see at close range. Like many people until I saw one at a […]
Mirror-mirror…
Papilio machaon – Papilionidae – The Old world Swallowtail In copula: This position is called “in wheel” when it comes to dragonflies but for anything alse, butterflies included it is simple copulation or mating! Anyway aren’t they magnificent?! Miroir de Machaons – On appelle la copulation de la libellule un “cœur copulatoire”….. expression très raffinée, […]
Mangrove Skipper, Phocides pigmalion.
The Mangrove Skipper (Phocides pigmalion) is a member of the Spread Wing Skippers of the Hesperidae family of butterflies. Found in the Mangrove forests of Florida, this large (48-70mm wingspan) skipper is a strong flyer and is often seen perching upside down with spread wings. The iridescent blue markings are beautiful and, along with it’s […]