Not a butterfly bonanza
The topsy-turvy weather of the past year has played havoc with butterfly numbers, says Val
IT’S been a topsy-turvy year at Spring Cottage. My winterflowering clematis ‘Freckles’, which usually flowers in November, was out at the beginning of September. The asters I rely on for September colour didn’t begin until October because the ground was bone dry. The equinoctial rainstorms finally soaked the ground and prompted some flower.
Insect life has been equally topsy-turvy and our butterfly numbers have been right down, despite the glorious summer. When the buddleia came out, four weeks earlier than usual, barely a butterfly landed on the flowers. Most years they’re alive with small tortoiseshells, peacocks and red admirals. I was interested to see if the results of this year’s Big Butterfly Count recorded the same decline. More than 100,000 people took part and Butterfly Conservation has said that 2018 “was not a butterfly bonanza”. Numbers were quite disappointing and they thought this was because many species emerged early so they missed the count. My own experience was quite the reverse. Many of my summer butterflies, including the small copper and comma, did not appear until the end of September. Normally, I would expect to see both much earlier, although the small copper is known to fly in October.
Bumper year for some
Some butterflies did do well, though. Those of us who grow cabbages will know that it was a bumper year for white caterpillars, particularly small whites. They were up by 161%. The whites seem to have done well across the board, as did the smaller blues. The common blue, which isn’t that