Loss of Butterflies

[GCN lova]

Just read on the news and wanted to share that almost three-quarters of our butterfly species have fallen in numbers in the past decade. Duke of Burgundy and many other species have been hit badly. However the Large Blue which was introduced is becoming more common after being reintroduced. So please let some wildflowers grow in your garden because loss of habitat has been thought to be a major factor.

[Johnny81]

Butterflies are always having a tough time of it, a real shame

Originally Posted by GCN lova

So please let some wildflowers grow in your garden because loss of habitat has been thought to be a major factor.

Growing more plants may help some species that may visit gardens but woodland fragmentation as with other habitats is probably the major cause of decline in many other species restricted to these locations.

[GCN lova]

I just thought it would be the easiest way instead of growing a forest in your back-garden.

[Deb London]

Butterfly decline is a fascinating subject and not fully understood. Whilst I hope to (eventually) attract Orange Tips to my garden, the chances of attracting the right type of ant for the Large Blue's life-cycle are next to zero. But I think that the low numbers of almost all butterfly species is worryingly low and I'll do my best to increase numbers. For example, I will try to grow Hemp Agrimony next year (though my soil is not ideal for this) as I hear this is an excellent plant for nectar.

[GCN lova]

We had quite a few orange tips around here but they were in the local park, Hopefully i will be able to grow some flowers in spring.

[Dogghound]

Habitat fragmentation, habitat loss/change and climate change are without doubt the key influences on our butterflies. More large scale solutions need to be implemented and colonies need preserving as well as linking to other colonies.

Planting flowers in gardens does help more common species, but most of these are not in serious decline. Nature reserves, farmland, woodland, marshes etc are where management needs to occur. Most habitat types for the more vulnerable species cannot be recreated in gardens as they often require specific micro-climates, grazing, woodland management, disturbance, coppicing and other forms of large scale management. For example the duke of burgundy requires north facing downland with a damp base. Which contains cowslip this would be impossible to achieve in most gardens.

However I do not mean to come across as being negative and butterflies of all species could do with as much help a they can. Nettle beds are a good feature to have in a garden which attract several of the common species to lay eggs. Also areas in which they can hibernate (sheltered wooden boxes/cavities), flowering plants and such like should be encouraged.

For orange ips, growing plants like cuckooflower, sweet rocket and other Brassicas will attract the adults and a good garlic mustard bed (in full sunlight) is a must for attracting orange tip to oviposit, in my experience the two close together is usually a good place to find larvae/eggs.

[Johnny81]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

Habitat fragmentation, habitat loss/change and climate change are without doubt the key influences on our butterflies. More large scale solutions need to be implemented and colonies need preserving as well as linking to other colonies.

Planting flowers in gardens does help more common species, but most of these are not in serious decline. Nature reserves, farmland, woodland, marshes etc are where management needs to occur.

My point exactly.

Being a keen lepidopterist my fathers garden is full of garlic mustard, buckthorn shrubs and plenty of cuckoo flower around the pond margins. He also has plenty of buddlia shrubs. Although plenty of brimstones, orange tips, whites, blues visit the garden during spring/summer, I have noticed painted lady/red admiral visits have declined. There could be many factors due to this (i.e. migration).

I'm all for doing our bit in our gardens, but bigger strategic management plans have to be put forward for other species like the Duke of Burgundy or the black hairstreak for example. BAP plans need updating, habitat management and monitoring needs to be at the forefront, land owners need to be made more aware etc etc. This is how I see it anyway

[King Edward]

I agree with Dogghound that the garden butterfly species aren't the ones in decline, in fact a lot of them are doing pretty well.

Regarding nettles, by all means leave undisturbed nettle patches if you have them already, but I don't think there's any good reason to actually plant/encourage them in a garden (especially if there's limited space, which could be used for more attractive and equally wildlife-friendly plants). Apart from anything else, nettles are probably as common today in the countryside as they've ever been, given that they thrive on heavily fertilised ground with high phosphate levels.

[aeshna5]

I'll have to take issue with KE on one garden species at least. Small Tortoiseshell used to be a very common garden butterfly- here in the south-east at least it has undergone a catastrophic decline, though numbers have rallied a little this year.

I've seen a small number locally + had one sighting in my garden this year but that is a tiny percentage of what the situation was over a decade ago. I appreciate other areas of the country don't seem to be as badly affected.

[King Edward]

That may be true, but I doubt it's declining for lack of nettles.