Summer of Butterflies
There is no doubt that we have a wealth of stunning butterfly species in Great Britain, and this time of year is just ideal for going outside, exploring new areas and getting close to the flying insects that liven up our countryside. The sensationally hot summer we are having so far this year has been an absolute treat for most of us but is it too hot for much smaller critters such as butterflies? Well usually butterflies, like most other insects also revel in the sun as this correlates with more flowering plants in full bloom, however, the heatwave of 2018 is seemingly doing some damage to the British butterfly population, well more specifically the caterpillar population.
The intense hours of heat coming from endless hours of sun has not only drained your garden’s grass of any moisture or green colour, it is roasting the country’s leaves and near-grilling those who reside on them, including caterpillars. It is in fact rather uncommon for sunlight to harm caterpillars directly, as the main impact comes from the sun’s drying effect on many leaves that result in crisp, sunburnt or brown leaves that lack vital nutrients and water needed by many animals, including molluscs, beetles, grasshoppers and the humble caterpillar, which becomes even more important when they are battling such high temperature.
As history repeats itself, we look back at the summer of ’76 that hit Britain after a run of heatwaves that hit in the years before. The extremely dry summer of 1976 caused a gigantic population crash for 54 of 207 species of moths and butterflies (with a severe impact on the rare blue and chequered skipper butterfly, causing it’s extinction in England) and the same kind of impact is feared to accumulate by the end of this year’s summer time.
Luckily, some experts over at Butterfly Conservation are relaying that there is unlikely to be a ‘mass catastrophe’ for every butterfly species but rather a limited severe impact affecting a small number of drought sensitive species, including the Ringlet Aphantopus hyperantus, and speckled wood Pararge aegeria.
(Photography disclaimer: The caterpillars were photographed in Lancashire while the butterflies shown on this blog are residents of Chester Zoo and are probably a little more exotic)