In Britain, volunteers counted as many butterflies as in 2019. One reason could be the hot, humid summer. But the long-term trend is worrying for many species, experts say.

The number of butterflies in Britain this year is the highest since 2019, according to a count. This was announced by the Butterfly Conservation organization. The admiral was seen more frequently – the species is becoming increasingly common in Britain due to rising temperatures due to climate change. However, in the long term, animal rights activists recorded a “worrying” decline in many species.

In the second most common species, the reddish-brown oxeye, they accounted for a 28 percent decline since counts began in 2010. On average, census volunteers saw a dozen butterflies between July 14 and 6th August. Last year there were only nine. In total, the nearly 95,000 participants discovered more than 1.5 million butterflies during 15-minute counts in gardens, parks, schoolyards and rural areas.

Long term trend worrying

The UK’s butterfly census is the largest in the world, according to Butterfly Conservation. According to scientist Zoe Randle of Butterfly Conservation, this summer’s mixed weather with lots of rain was responsible for the increase in butterfly numbers this year: “There were lots of green food plants for the caterpillars and lots of nectar-rich flowers for the adult butterflies. ” However, the long-term trend is worrying for some of the most common species.

In Germany, during a counting campaign carried out this year by nature conservation associations, very few butterflies were observed. “2023 is not really a year for butterflies. Never before have we been informed of so few butterflies,” insect expert Laura Breitkreuz commented at the end of August about the results of the Nature Conservation Association’s “Insect Summer” campaign ( NABU). and the Bavarian State Association for Bird and Nature Conservation (LBV).