Betchworth Butterflies
Norman Jackson
Norman Jackson
The Big Butterfly Count is a major UK citizen science project in which volunteers observe and count the butterflies near where they live over a three week period in July and August. The survey helps assess the health of our environment by counting the number and type of butterflies and day-flying moths. This year the survey took place between July 14th – August 6th and members of Re-B contributed to the survey.
The UK has 59 breeding species of butterfly but like many of our insects they are under threat from human activities. Long-term trends show that 80% of butterfly species have decreased in abundance or distribution, or both since the 1970s. UK butterflies have lost 6% of their total abundance at monitored sites and 42% of their distribution over the period 1976-2019. This is why, initiatives like Bug’s Life B-Line project, and our own Betchworth Biodiversity Corridor, aim to expand wildflower cultivation, to help butterflies increase their distribution and abundance.
As part of our Betchworth Biodiversity Baseline Survey members of Re-B team spent time observing and recording our butterflies this year. Using the excellent on-line resources of the Butterfly Conservation Society https://butterfly-conservation.org/ we have identified and photographed a total of 19 species (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Summary of the butterflies we have identified in the B-Line
The UK has 59 breeding species of butterfly but like many of our insects they are under threat from human activities. Long-term trends show that 80% of butterfly species have decreased in abundance or distribution, or both since the 1970s. UK butterflies have lost 6% of their total abundance at monitored sites and 42% of their distribution over the period 1976-2019. This is why, initiatives like Bug’s Life B-Line project, and our own Betchworth Biodiversity Corridor, aim to expand wildflower cultivation, to help butterflies increase their distribution and abundance.
As part of our Betchworth Biodiversity Baseline Survey members of Re-B team spent time observing and recording our butterflies this year. Using the excellent on-line resources of the Butterfly Conservation Society https://butterfly-conservation.org/ we have identified and photographed a total of 19 species (Figure 1).
Figure 1 Summary of the butterflies we have identified in the B-Line
Its not easy to photograph a butterfly so some of our photos are a bit blurry but they do at least give us a flavour of their diversity and beauty. The colours and patterns on the wings have several functions. Firstly, they help protect butterflies from predators through camouflage, or warn predators that the butterfly’s body is toxic, secondly they help attract potential mates. A major feature of these wing canvases is that they have two sides and they can contain different messages on each side. In general, butterflies use the upper surfaces of their wings to seduce the opposite sex, whereas they use the lower surfaces to hide from view or to communicate to their predators that eating them would be toxic. Most butterflies sit or feed with their wings closed, the ventral (or bottom) side of their wings, with the subdued colors which often blend into the vegetation making them more difficult for predators to see. Open wings are often a signal to attract a mate.