Britons urged to help chart spread of thriving butterfly species

Campaign asks wildlife enthusiasts to visit local woodland to record number of speckled woods and other butterflies

Patrick Barkham

Monday 1 August 201606.01 BST

Wildlife lovers are being asked to spend 15 minutes in a wood this week to chart the spread of the speckled wood (Pararge aegeria), Britain’s most successful butterfly.

The speckled wood is one of a handful of species that appear to be benefitting from climate change, recently colonising East Anglia, the Midlands and much of northern England, increasing in abundance by 84% over the past 40 years. The southern population has expanded northwards at an average of four miles a year since the 1970s.

The butterfly has also ventured into the Irish Sea to reach the Isle of Man and spread across Scotland, where in the 1970s it was restricted to the mild west coast and the Moray firth. It may even be about to establish itself on the Outer Hebrides.

As part of this year’s Big Butterfly Count, Butterfly Conservation and the Tree Charter - a campaign to help protect the UK’s woodlands and wildlife - are asking the public to visit a local wood and record the speckled woods and other butterflies they see.

Results from the Big Butterfly Count, the world’s biggest annual insect count, will help scientists to understand why the speckled wood has thrived when three-quarters of Britain’s 59 native butterfly species are in decline.

“It’s a species that’s doing well but it’s also doing interesting things,” said Richard Fox of Butterfly Conservation. “Sightings in northern England, southern Scotland, Scottish islands and the far north are particularly important – you might discover a new area in which the speckled wood has never been found before. But we welcome sightings from everywhere so we can measure how well the speckled wood is doing nationally.”

Read more ...

2016 could be worst year on record for British butterflies, experts warn

Public asked to take part in annual count to assess the impact of a sunless summer, cool spring and mild winter on butterfly numbers

Patrick Barkham

Friday 15 July 201606.01 BST

A deadly combination of a sunless summer, cool spring and mild winter may make 2016 the worst year for butterflies since records began, experts warn.

Sir David Attenborough is urging the public to take part in the Big Butterfly Count so that scientists can discover just how disastrous the unsettled weather is proving for Britain’s 59 butterfly species.

The count, the largest insect survey in the world, begins today with people asked to spend 15 minutes recording which butterflies they see in a park, garden or countryside.

Richard Fox, of Butterfly Conservation, which runs the survey, said: “It’s not looking good at all but we will only know how bad a year it’s been if lots of people take part. Even if you see only one butterfly – or none – please submit these sightings because that’s what we need to tell how good or bad this year will turn out to be for our butterflies.”

Butterflies have been scientifically monitored since 1976 and the worst year since records began was the cold summer of 2012, which began with a mild spring. This year’s weather, said Fox, had been completely different: a cold, late spring followed by a warm but extremely wet and sunless summer.

Many common species, particularly the small and large whites, the common blue and the small copper appear to be extremely scarce this year.

Continued …