The Disappearance of Butterflies

In the last fifty years our butterfly populations have declined by more than eighty per cent and butterflies are now facing the very real prospect of extinction. It is hard to remember the time when fields and meadows were full of these beautiful, delicate creatures – today we rarely catch a glimpse of the Wild Cherry Sphinx moths, Duke of Burgundy or the even once common Small Tortoiseshell butterflies. The High Brown Fritillary butterfly and the Stout Dart Moth have virtually disappeared.

The eminent entomologist and award-winning author Josef H. Reichholf began studying butterflies in the late 1950s. He brings a lifetime of scientific experience and expertise to bear on one of the great environmental catastrophes of our time. He takes us on a journey into the wonderful world of butterflies - from the small nymphs that emerge from lakes in air bubbles to the trusting purple emperors drunk on toad poison - and immerses us in a world that we are in danger of losing forever. Step by step he explains the science behind this impending ecological disaster, and shows how it is linked to pesticides, over-fertilization and the intensive farming practices of the agribusiness.

His book is a passionate plea for biodiversity and the protection of butterflies. Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part I: The Biodiversity of Lepidoptera

A Review of 50 Years of Butterfly and Moth Research

Insects fly towards UV light

Urban Lepidoptera: more common than expected

Death’s head hawk-moth: a guest that can barely live with us anymore

The Fascinating Life of Aquatic Moths

Evenings at the pond

The hidden lives of the little nymphs

How the caterpillar breathes under water

Up and away in an air balloon

The advantages of living in water

A place to live or an ‘ecological niche’

The destruction of the biotopes of the little nymphs

The Benefits of Being Attracted to Light

Like moths to a flame

The red blindness of butterflies

The Strange Behaviour of the Purple Emperor

Butterflies on drugs

Psychedelics in the insect kingdom

The Nettle-feeding Lepidoptera: An Instructive Community

Nettles: indicators of overfertilization

Nettles escape defoliation

Maize: damaged beyond repair

Cabbage whites: parasites and protection

The mass flight of the map butterfly: singularities in the realm of the butterflies

Does climate change affect the seasonal morphs of the map butterfly?

Nature is too diverse for simple generalizations

The Great Migrations of the Butterflies

The migratory flights of the painted ladies

Small tortoiseshells as travellers

Butterfly invasions

Poisonous Butterflies and Moths: From the Cabbage White to the Six-spot Burnet

Cabbage whites on the Dalmatian coast

Whenever it rains in the desert …

Which factors affect the reproduction of butterflies, and when?

Useful models

The need to go slow

Poison in the body

The Secret Life of Small Ermine Moths

The bird-cherry, a tree of the riparian woods

Toxins in bird-cherries

The life history of the caterpillars of the ermine moth

Helpful hungry caterpillars

Between parasitism and population explosion

Longer-term population cycles

Coppice management and its consequences

Generations and multiyear cycles of ermine moths

Parasitoids on other ermine moths

The lifecycles of butterflies and moths

Hardy Winter Moths

Life at the edge of winter

The mastery of seasonal niches

Why female winter moths do not need wings

Deforestation, poison and the decline of the codling moth and the winter moth

The common quaker moth in early spring

Brimstones: The First Spring Butterflies

Butterfly attacks

The problem with early flight

Müllerian mimicry

The critical factor of spring weather

‘Balance’ in nature

Part II: The Disappearance of Lepidoptera

Assessing the Abundance and Occurrence of Butterflies: A Major Challenge

Starting with 1,000 watts

How to successfully attract moths to light

Change and continuity

All praise to those who helped us with identification problems

Butterfly and Moth Names

The Decline of Moths and Butterflies

The village outskirts and the open fields

Findings in the riparian woods

The findings from Munich

The decline in species diversity

Warm summers and what they mean for the moths and butterflies

The Metropolis: The End of Nature or Salvation of Species Diversity?

The advantage of structure

Monocultures produce pests

Cities as islands of warmth

Overfertilized, poisoned land

Nature-friendly cities

The Inhospitality of the Countryside

From idyll to slurry

Monocultures and changes to the ground-level microclimate

The cooling of fields and forests

Increased growth reduces the abundance of moths and butterflies in the riparian woods

Boundary ridges in the fields and meadows: a supportive network

‘Infilling’ and ‘compensating areas’

The ‘nutritional condition’ of the landscape

The disappearance of the cockchafers

The turning point for our farmers: the 1970s

The Krefeld Study

A subsidy system without an exit mechanism

Nature conservation and nature enthusiasts

The Devastating Effect of Communal Maintenance Measures

The End of the Night: The Role of Light Pollution

Summary: A Cluster of Factors

The Disappearance of Moths and Butterflies and Its Consequences

What We Can Do about the Disappearance of Moths and butterflies

The Beauty of Moths and Butterflies

Two Findings in Place of an Epilogue

Select Bibliography

Index

"The Disappearance of Butterflies is in many ways the fulfilment of Reichholf’s entire 50-year career."
New Statesman

"This is a brilliant, authoritative and iconoclastic challenge to the industrial farming that is destroying insect life. But Josef Reichholf’s lifetime of scrupulous scientific observation of butterflies and moths does not lead to despondency. He identifies overlooked solutions, from discarding fertiliser to embracing disorder and greening cities. And he reveals more of the miraculous biology of butterflies and moths, and their marvellous relationships with a whole web of life – including us."
Patrick Barkham, author of The Butterly Isles

“This engaging book, based on personal observations of the author and a broad reading of the literature, celebrates the wonderful diversity of butterflies and moths, and laments their ongoing decline in response to loss of natural habitat and intense agricultural practices. Reichholf introduces the reader to the general biology of Lepidoptera, as well as highlighting the special adaptations of some groups to their particular, and sometimes peculiar, ways of life. The second part of the book addresses the decline of butterflies and moths, why this should matter to us, and what we can do about it. Among its surprises are the roles of urban areas as refuges for some species. Reichholf makes the case that diversity is important and worth conserving, both for the functioning of the natural environment and for the pleasure we humans derive from nature.”
Robert E. Ricklefs, University of Missouri-St. Louis

“The beauty, individuality and unique characteristics of butterflies and moths are brought to life in the first half of this authoritative book. The pages filled with a lifetime of personal experiences, scientific research and case studies. But it is the second half that really captured my imagination. Addressing the devastating decline of lepidoptera, Reichholf outlines why this should matter to us and what we can do about it. With striking insight into why over fertilisation, industrial agriculture and habitat degradation are crippling for biodiversity, the author offers hope through a range of solutions.”
Lindsey Chapman, Discover Wildlife

"Fascinating"
Visions for Sustainability

“Eloquent, detailed, expertly organized and presented, The Disappearance of Butterflies is a definitive study that will have immense value to students, scientists, and the general public alike.”
Midwest Book Review

“The Disappearance of Butterflies is an important creation. It is partly a poignant catalogue of loss, and partly a celebration of the wonder of butterflies and moths.”
The London Naturalist

“An important book”
Antenna

Josef Reichholf is an environmental biologist and author who has twice received the German Science Book of the Year prize.