Where are all the butterflies? There would normally be 5-6 at any time on these flowers on a warm august day but I haven’t seen a single one land yet this summer.
Sorry I know it’s paywalled, but it’s an article from yesterday about the severe decrease in butterfly numbers across the country. Even the most common breed of butterfly (green-veined white) are down 83% since 2008.
Astral_Atheist
They are all in my back garden, along with every bumblebee in the neighborhood
Cool_Economics_1644
I have loads of bees, hover flys bumblebees and other insects but I have only seen a handful of butterflies this year.
Dependent_Quail5187
There’s definitely a noticeable decline in all insects this year. I’ve been going on long walks in parks in Dublin throughout the summer, walking along hedgerows where you’d usually expect to see swarms of all sorts. Often I don’t see any. Apart from Butterflies, dragon flies, ladybirds etc.
LuMy01
I haven’t seen as many as I used to. We should all be trying to convince our neighbors, friends and family to make their gardens, even a small bit, more nature-friendly.
The pollinators.ie website is great for tips and tricks as well as the Laois County Council Gardening for Biodiversity booklet.
Yeah, so we killed all of them. We decided that it would be less of a hassle to just let them die than say anything to large landholders. We’ve killed the rivers too, you might have noticed, same reason. Much easier to do nothing and let landholders continue to shed slurry and fertiliser into the ground water.
But yeah, look at those beautiful monoculture grass fields. Acres and acres of intensively farmed monoculture. That makes it all worthwhile right?
modeyink
Wow now you mention it, yeah, I haven’t seen any butterflies. That’s sad.
skaterbrain
A lot of Peacock butterflies have just hatched and are voraciously feeding on my next-door-neighbour’s Buddleia. I can see at least six of them, right now. Plus three little blue ones, which I’ve had loads of this year. They flutter around the holly and the ivy.
A very noticeable shortage of Small Tortoiseshells – I think I’ve seen ONE.
Also, hardly any wasps. My garden is very wildlife-hospitable, but it feels like some sort of eerie death in the air.
Nettlesontoast
Apparently they’re all in my garden, we don’t mow the lawn more than 2 or 3 times a year and it’s gone pretty feral
Quite a few butterflies around and lots of caterpillars in the spring
One thing I don’t have is hedgehogs though. I used to have loads of hedgehogs for decades without fail and then about 15 years ago I started frequently seeing them unwell and wandering around during daylight hours. By about 9 years ago there stopped being any hedgehogs at all and still aren’t.
Imo it’s likely rampant weedkiller and slug pellet usage. For the butterflies I’d suspect pesticides and habitat destruction.
ciarogeile
As well as the general insect decline over the past decades, I suspect that this year is particularly poor because the bad weather earlier in the year made many plants slow to emerge. Butterfly populations start off low then grow over a couple of generations over the year. With some luck, we’ll see some more soon.
Beneficial-Stress119
Hi I have broccoli growing and have them covered in netting.. there is lots of cabbage whites butterflies hanging around them waiting for an opportunity to land.. also I’m seeing a lot of bees of all sorts .. rescued at least 10 from our pool too.. We are in Laois.
Top-Refrigerator536
Was reading that today it’s quite sad really
BeanEireannach
I’m not saying that these are the only two causes, but I think the change/delay in weather in recent years has had an impact in the reproduction of butterflies alongside so many people getting into the trend of using a whole load of toxic chemicals to get the perfectly uniform lawn 😢
up-country
I saw two the other day, but yes, it’s strange and concerning.
Bees are finally back, though. Maybe butterflies will follow?
15 Comments
[Butterflies in free fall: ‘It’s really alarming because it shows that something significant is happening in the wider countryside’](https://www.irishtimes.com/environment/climate-crisis/2024/08/10/butterflies-in-free-fall-its-really-alarming-because-it-shows-that-something-significant-is-happening-in-the-wider-countryside/)
Sorry I know it’s paywalled, but it’s an article from yesterday about the severe decrease in butterfly numbers across the country. Even the most common breed of butterfly (green-veined white) are down 83% since 2008.
They are all in my back garden, along with every bumblebee in the neighborhood
I have loads of bees, hover flys bumblebees and other insects but I have only seen a handful of butterflies this year.
There’s definitely a noticeable decline in all insects this year. I’ve been going on long walks in parks in Dublin throughout the summer, walking along hedgerows where you’d usually expect to see swarms of all sorts. Often I don’t see any. Apart from Butterflies, dragon flies, ladybirds etc.
I haven’t seen as many as I used to. We should all be trying to convince our neighbors, friends and family to make their gardens, even a small bit, more nature-friendly.
The pollinators.ie website is great for tips and tricks as well as the Laois County Council Gardening for Biodiversity booklet.
https://pollinators.ie/
https://laois.ie/departments/heritage/biodiversity/gardening-for-biodiversity/
Oh right. The butterflies.
Yeah, so we killed all of them. We decided that it would be less of a hassle to just let them die than say anything to large landholders. We’ve killed the rivers too, you might have noticed, same reason. Much easier to do nothing and let landholders continue to shed slurry and fertiliser into the ground water.
But yeah, look at those beautiful monoculture grass fields. Acres and acres of intensively farmed monoculture. That makes it all worthwhile right?
Wow now you mention it, yeah, I haven’t seen any butterflies. That’s sad.
A lot of Peacock butterflies have just hatched and are voraciously feeding on my next-door-neighbour’s Buddleia. I can see at least six of them, right now. Plus three little blue ones, which I’ve had loads of this year. They flutter around the holly and the ivy.
A very noticeable shortage of Small Tortoiseshells – I think I’ve seen ONE.
Also, hardly any wasps. My garden is very wildlife-hospitable, but it feels like some sort of eerie death in the air.
Apparently they’re all in my garden, we don’t mow the lawn more than 2 or 3 times a year and it’s gone pretty feral
Quite a few butterflies around and lots of caterpillars in the spring
One thing I don’t have is hedgehogs though. I used to have loads of hedgehogs for decades without fail and then about 15 years ago I started frequently seeing them unwell and wandering around during daylight hours. By about 9 years ago there stopped being any hedgehogs at all and still aren’t.
Imo it’s likely rampant weedkiller and slug pellet usage. For the butterflies I’d suspect pesticides and habitat destruction.
As well as the general insect decline over the past decades, I suspect that this year is particularly poor because the bad weather earlier in the year made many plants slow to emerge. Butterfly populations start off low then grow over a couple of generations over the year. With some luck, we’ll see some more soon.
Hi I have broccoli growing and have them covered in netting.. there is lots of cabbage whites butterflies hanging around them waiting for an opportunity to land.. also I’m seeing a lot of bees of all sorts .. rescued at least 10 from our pool too.. We are in Laois.
Was reading that today it’s quite sad really
I’m not saying that these are the only two causes, but I think the change/delay in weather in recent years has had an impact in the reproduction of butterflies alongside so many people getting into the trend of using a whole load of toxic chemicals to get the perfectly uniform lawn 😢
I saw two the other day, but yes, it’s strange and concerning.
Bees are finally back, though. Maybe butterflies will follow?
Paris? for the Olympics maybe