UK butterfly numbers plunge to new low

[treesparrow]

Link -

http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/article/9/84/uk_butterfly_numbers_plunge_to_new_low.html

The knock on effect of the last 2 poor summers already seems clear - I've only noted perhaps 3 individual butterflies about this spring despite several sunny days. (A nearby friend and nature watcher has also seen very few).

Has anyone else in the UK noted this lack of butterflies this spring?

 

[RedFox]

I've only seen a few of tortoiseshells, cabbage whites, and I think a yellow....that was last weekend when the sun was out (first butterflies I've noticed this year).
I have noticed a decline over the years in butterflies and some species of song birds in the UK.

 

[Z...]

Well this is an article from June 2003 but it is happening this year again:

Large numbers of butterflies have been seen around the Maltese islands, in particular in the south.

Reports also came in from fishermen who sighted large numbers of painted lady butterflies, on their way to Malta.

Nature Trust (Malta) entomological adviser David Dandria said the recent sightings of large numbers of painted lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui) have generated a great deal of interest.

Although not so spectacular or widespread as bird migration, butterfly migration is a well-known and not infrequent occurrence. Perhaps the most famous and extraordinary migration is that by the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) in North America.

Other butterflies, including the red admiral and the painted lady also do mass migrations, but these are generally one way trips in search of food. The current painted lady migrations being observed are of this type, he said.

This Mediterranean butterfly can reach northern Europe from North Africa. In northern Europe it can survive and breed during the summer months, but few of them can tolerate the cold, wet winters.

Mass migrations of painted lady butterflies over Malta do not occur every year, but rather sporadically.

The painted lady, as its name suggests, is a beautiful member of the Maltese lepidopteran fauna, and occurs commonly during the spring and summer months. It is a harmless insect, as its caterpillar feeds on thistles and therefore does not pose a threat to agricultural crops.For further details contact Nature Trust (Malta) - P.O. Box 9 Valletta, info@naturetrustmalta.org or 2147 2036.

I just experienced it yesterday. As I was stuck in the traffic near small flower bed on a roundabout amidst of concrete and asphalt jungle, out of nowhere hundreds if not thousands of butterflies descended on flowers and cars. The air was filled with flapping of their wings and it seemed as if they were dancing in unison.
My windows were down and some flew through my car, brushing me with their wings. It was the most beautiful and most surreal experience in my entire life.

 

[treesparrow]

Those painted lady butterflies reported above in Malta have now arrived in the UK - by the million!

http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/article/9/100/butterfly_migration_is_biggest_for_years.html

Also sighted in South Wales - a rare migant - the Long Tailed Blue.

 

[treesparrow]

Wet summers affecting UK butterflies

Headlines -

Wet summers drive five British butterflies close to extinction

Three years of heavy rain and low temperatures made it hard for insects to fly

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/wet-summers-drive-five-british-butterflies-close-to-extinction-1916511.html