With 2 weeks until the UKBMS 50th Anniversary conference we're sharing details of the talks and speakers. We're pleased to welcome Cristina Gonzalez Sevilleja from the European Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. Book your free place here ⬇️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/uk-butterf...

Part 1 - My 2nd night of trapping on the night of 8th September, 2025 was in Sierra de Gredos at El Pagano, Candelida, Avila Province, Castilla y Leon, Spain, with some lovely habitats & lovely people! Attached are some photo highlights! #teammoth #spanishmoths www.facebook.com/permalink.ph...

An unforgettable day with my @mariposanature.bsky.social group. I found Desert Babul Blue on the European mainland! There are a mere handful of past claims of it - this is an African species that's an ultra-rarity in Europe. I'm in a state of some shock. #butterflies @europebutterfly.bsky.social

The idiom "like a moth to the flame" dates to at least the 12th century, to Persian love poem "Layla and Majnun". Shakespeare references it in "Merchant of Venice." But here's the thing. Moths DON'T fly to flames. And we're just now understanding that. Let's talk about dorsal light response.

Brilliant analysis from our German partner. The Grassland Butterfly Index GBI is one of the ways that Member States can assess to health of agro-ecosystems under the new EU Nature Restoration Regulation. We hope that Germany adopts this now they have such good data.

In the pilot scheme supported by @jncc.bsky.social, moth traps were used alongside e-Surveyor, an AI-based identification app that helps farmers without specialist knowledge record #biodiversity on their land www.ceh.ac.uk/data/e-tools...

Moths matter on farmland and we're working with farmers to help track them 🦋 This growing network of #biodiversity monitoring will lead to new insights into how nature is faring in agricultural areas. 🔗 In a new blog post, @abigaillowe.bsky.social explains more: www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-med... 🧪

Funded PhD position available 🎉 Come and work with me in Helsinki to uncover the pathways producing colourful tiger moth wings. Lots of options for genomics, CRISPR, fieldwork, behaviour experiments… Email with questions! jobs.helsinki.fi/job/Helsinki...

This important study takes a bit of reading to get the nuances. It’s hard to believe there has been no overall decline because of previous studies on UK Leps, but it seems like climate change is creating as many winners as habitat losers. Perhaps because UK is in N Europe where sp can still spread?

We need much more semi-natural habitat (6-37%, depending on species group) in agricultural landscapes to effectively conserve pollinators. Large collaborative synthesis study looking at 59 studies in 1250 landscapes from 19 countries now published in Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Today, there was a meeting of moth enthusiasts at the University of Murcia, Spain as in this photo - 25th of September 2025! In the photo below; from right to left, Rosa M. Rubio, Antonio Ortiz, Dave Grundy, John Girdley, Juan José Guerrero Fernández & José Luis Yela! #teammoth #spanishmoths

Este verano, viajamos a la isla de El Hierro para estudiar al Sátiro de El Hierro #MariposaDelAño 2025 Durante nuestro trabajo, tuvimos la oportunidad de aparecer en Radio Televisión Canaria, hablando sobre su fragilidad y la importancia de conocerla y protegerla. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALJZ...

💚 The EU Nature Restoration Law has been nominated for the prestigious World Future Policy Award, the global prize celebrating policies that make a real difference in people’s lives! ⏰ Stay tuned on October 11 to find out the winner during the IUCN World Conservation Congress! #RestoreNature

Postcard from the field from tour leader Jon, with our Autumn Exotica in Andalusia group today: Two big target skippers showed beautifully for our guests today - with bonus Plain Tiger, African Grass Blue, and Monarch all adding to the butterfly party atmosphere!

With the Grassland Butterfly Index for Germany, @ufz.de scientists provide important input for the implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation. 🦋 🔗 Read more on the @pensoft.net blog: blog.pensoft.net/2025/09/24/g... @kuehneli.bsky.social

Someone’s dream PhD position is open right now👀

‪ Gerade erschienen ist unsere aktuelle Veröffentlichung "Index der Grünalndschmetterlinge in Deutschland". Die Ergebnisse zeigen speziell für die letzten zehn Jahre einen negativen Trend für Tagfalter des Grünlandes, insbesondere auch für spezialisierte Arten. doi.org/10.3897/natu... @ufz.de

Brilliant analysis from our German partner. The Grassland Butterfly Index GBI is one of the ways that Member States can assess to health of agro-ecosystems under the new EU Nature Restoration Regulation. We hope that Germany adopts this now they have such good data.

Feathered Ranunculus (Polymixis lichenea) - North Antrim - September 2025. Appeared at a couple of coastal sites this week. #moths #mothsmatter #teammoth #gcampbellphoto @ulsterwildlife.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social @europebutterfly.bsky.social

Red-green Carpet (Chloroclysta siterata) - North Antrim, September 2025. Another beautiful from the local woods, adding to the autumn colours. #moths #mothsmatter #teammoth #gcampbellphoto @ulsterwildlife.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social @europebutterfly.bsky.social

The Vapourer (Orgyia antiqua) - North Antrim - September 2025. The amazingly weird caterpillar of this moth species. #moths #mothsmatter #teammoth @ulsterwildlife.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social @europebutterfly.bsky.social

Vannacht drie nieuwe soorten in de nachtvlinderval in het bos: gepluimde snuituil (bij voorkeur op se Haags utgesproken), triangelmot en prachtmot In totaal 43ex / 19 soorten #ElkeDagEenInsect @vlinderstichting.bsky.social @europebutterfly.bsky.social

Another super testimonial for our Butterflies of North Greece tour, our featured tour this week and one that, naturally, supports the grand work of @europebutterfly.bsky.social. This feedback coming from a professional ecologist was all the lovelier to hear! www.mariposanature.com/tours/butter...

L’agroécologie : une alliée pour la nature, le climat et l’agriculture en Europe Une méta-analyse de 170 études, dans 21 pays, montre que les systèmes agroécologiques favorisent la biodiversité & le stockage du C dans les sols 👉 www.inrae.fr/actualites/l... @agroscope.bsky.social @urep.bsky.social

We love hearing from our guests - it's always a joy to learn they've enjoyed our tours. This week's featured tour, Butterflies of North Greece, always attracts a lot of positivity - no wonder, with so many butterflies, birds and other wildlife to see! www.mariposanature.com/tours/butter...

Is it Fritillary Thursday? If not let's make it so, here's one of the biggest & most beautiful in Europe, the Cardinal Fritillary (Argynnis pandora). This one was taken in Northern Greece on one of our tours. Now it's time for you to get your frits out & share for #Leptember!

Like ALL our butterfly tours, our current featured tour, Butterflies of North Greece, generates a donation to support @europebutterfly.bsky.social's superb conservation work. Butterfly Conservation Europe have a new website - have a look, and please follow them on here. www.bc-europe.eu/index.php

The Snout (Hypena proboscidalis) - North Antrim - September 2025. Another moth making a late in the year appearance, though I did get one in November last year. # #moths #mothsmatter #teammoth #gcampbellphoto @ulsterwildlife.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social @europebutterfly.bsky.social

In the firing line are also food safety, animal welfare, and feed additives. Basically anything that stands in the way of factory farming and a race to the bottom on food quality. "Call for evidence" here- ec.europa.eu/info/law/bet...

The farm lobby goes in for a kill, as the EC opens a consultation of "agriculture simplification". First step towards an "omnibus" law that will make it (even) easier to use #pesticides. Citizens have until October 14 to tell the EC to stop messing with their food.

It almost escaped trying to pot it but in the end I've got my 2nd very rare migrant moth at light this autumn, Diasemiopsis ramburialis! About the 16th for Belgium since 1980 and my 708th garden species, hopefully better pics this evening... #mothmigration #insectmigration #mothsmatter

Cupido argiades (short-tailed blue) used to be quite rare but became common in Leipzig in the past 2-3 years. Is this happening also in other places in Germany/Europe? If so, could it be some sort of an adaptation to changing conditions?

En la 28 setmana del CBMS a #alòsdebalaguer hem comptat 118 exemplars de 21 espècies. Hem tornat a veure la cleòpatra, la pòntia comuna, la bruixa i una bonica safranera femella de la forma helice. Al setembre hi ha una lleugera recuperació després de l'intens agost.

#NotíciaIRBioUB 🌡️🦋 Els microclimes forestals poden protegir les papallones... però no davant els extrems climàtics. 🔗https://shorturl.at/T1WBB 📷 Foto: Jordi Casals

Joan Pino ( @uabbiociencies.bsky.social i @creaf.cat): "Les papallones són un indicador valuós de l'impacte del canvi climàtic a les ciutats" #UABAlsMitjans 

Bath White Butterfly (Pontia daplidice) There are two species of bath white in Europe and north Africa, previously I posted Eastern Bath Whites (P. edusa) I was lucky that the the Western Bath White is present on Tenerife and I now have photos of both species #BathWhite #Pontiadaplidice

Big, blue & beautiful 💙 The Clifden Nonpareil (Catocala fraxini), whose name means ‘beyond compare’, is our Species of the Month 👉 https://butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blog/species-of-the-month-clifden-nonpareil 📷: Peter Maton, Andrew Cooper, Mark Parsons #MothMonday #MothsMatter #TeamMoth

Please share widely! The Natural History Museum Denmark @nhmdk.bsky.social is offering a PhD fellowship in collection-based Natural History Research, focused on dark taxa & unknown species, pref. including representatives of Danish flora, fauna or geology. candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...

Four days after finding the pupating Hummingbird Hawkmoth caterpillar, it’s certainly transformed into the chrysalis stage but maybe not fully. Will keep an eye on it. #moths #TeamMoth #MothsMatter #ento #UKwildlife

An amazing meeting with excellent outcomes from dynamic brainstorming sessions that went beyond expectations — a big thanks to the organizers, moderator and all participants! @10klepgenomes.bsky.social

Good morning and welcome to a new week! Our featured tour this week is our popular Butterflies of North Greece. A guaranteed departure next June, and guaranteed to generate a donation to support the great conservation work of @europebutterfly.bsky.social. (1/2) mariposanature.com/tours/butter...

Nice to find this Dark-bordered Pearl (Evergestis limbata) on my kitchen wall, once a rare migrant now resident in southern England. Probably feeding on the Hedge Garlic I encourage for Orange-tip in my garden! @dorsetmoths.bsky.social @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

Silver Y (Autographa gamma) - North Antrim, September 2025. As well as the rarer migrant moths, some of the more frequently encountered ones have been showing up as well. #moths #mothsmatter #teammoth @ulsterwildlife.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social @europebutterfly.bsky.social

Merveille du Jour (Griposia aprilina) - North Antrim, September 2025. The first of these stunners for the year made for a wonderful start to the day. #moths #mothsmatter #teammoth @ulsterwildlife.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social @europebutterfly.bsky.social

On average, #BigButterflyCount participants recorded 10.3 butterflies per 15-minute count 🦋 While a marked improvement on 2024’s record low of 7.2, it is only broadly average by modern standards, and has done little to reverse longer-term declines. 👉 butterfly-conservation.org/big-butterfl...

So sad to hear that climate change is causing insect declines even where there is little human interference. In Europe climate change is leading to winners and losers as some species are able to move across the continent where others are stuck where they are and their habitats suffer eg drought

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) - North Antrim, September 2025. Whilst butterfly numbers are up on last years record low, the relatively good summer we had did not deliver the hoped for big increases, according the Butterfly Conservation Big Butterfly Count. butterfly-conservation.org/big-butterfl...

Disease-resilient trees improve butterfly habitats www.bbc.com/news/article...