📣EUROPEAN RED LIST OF MOTHS PUBLISHED!📣 A m(amm)oth task - huge congratulations to the team! Spoiler: >3000 species assessed at the European level, 704 of them endemic. Ca. 25% are listed as Data Deficient & 11% threatened with extinction. op.europa.eu/en/publicati...

Where the Red Admiral (V atalanta) has a good year on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects, Peacock (dagpauwoog, A io) and Comma (gehakkelde aurelia, P c-album) are only doing so-so. The Small tortoiseshell (kleine vos, A urticae) has been down for the last ten years.

Just like the Queen of Spain Fritillary (kleine parelmoer, I lathonia) the Swallowtail (koninginnenpage, P machaon) loves hot weather. I found a few in every 15min count I did today in my region in South Veluwe (NL).

Big numbers of Queen of Spain Fritillary (kleine parelmoer, Issoria lathonia) in my region on South Veluwe. Veel kleine parelmoers vandaag op de Zuid Veluwe.

A very early Brown hairstreak (Thecla betulae, sleedoornpage) on our transect in the Wageningen Rhine-floodplains. Een heel vroege sleedoornpage op ons transect in the uiterwaarden bij Wageningen.

In the past the Marbled White (dambordje, M galathea) did several colonisation attempts in NL, but so far all failed and the species never managed to survive 10 years on its own. Vagrants are seen every year, but this year numbers on two sites are much larger. Lets see if this new attempt succeeds.

Mean number of butterflies per 1000m on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects per habitat last week. The high number on heathland comes from Silver-studded Blue (heideblauwtje, P argus), which can be very abundant. Overall Meadow Brown (bruin zandoogje, M jurtina) was the most abundant species.

A new White Paper from eight major EU-funded pollinator projects warns that the resilience of Europe’s vital societal functions and food security are at stake if the EU fails to halt and reverse wild pollinator declines. #pollinators #moths #bees #bumblebees www.eurekalert.org/news-release...

The Pieris-whites have a good year on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects, esp. Large White (photo), Small White and Southern Small White have higher than average numbers at the end of June. The combination of enough rain a few weeks ago and Sunshine benefits these widespread butterflies.

Het kabinet kiest ervoor om oplossingen voor de stikstofproblematiek opnieuw op de lange baan te schuiven. Richting 2035 wordt (misschien) toegewerkt naar doelen die al in 2030 kunnen en moeten worden gerealiseerd. Op korte termijn gebeurt er (te) weinig. www.tweedekamer.nl/kamerstukken...

Good numbers of Red Admirals (V atalanta) on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects. The combination of enough rain in spring and hot weather now is clearly positive for this nettle feeder.

Nederland heeft serieuze opgaven voor art. 10 (bestuivers) en 11 (graslandvlinderindex) van de Natuurherstelverording. Een belangrijke stap daarin zou natuurvriendelijk beheer van bermen zijn (zie www.groeneruimte.nl/nieuws/274011/?b=260624), als bv. kleurkeur (vlinderstichting.nl/kleurkeur).

Wanneer de realiteit fictie overtreft! Boven: fictieve voorspelling voor augustus 2050, uitgezonden door de Franse tv in 2014 om te waarschuwen voor de gevolgen van de opwarming van de aarde. Onderste: echte Franse voorspelling van 22 juni 2026.

On the Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects we see a new wave of Painted Ladies (distelvlinder, V cardui) coming in from the south, probably with the hot air from France. This graph compares the mean number per week per 1000m with the top migration years 1996, 2003, 2009 and 2019.

Second generation of Map (landkaartje, Araschnia levana) is just starting at Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transect. On one or our transects we just spotted 4 fresh ones, this one actually has a lot of orange, as is more usual in the 3rd generation.

Poor numbers of Peacock (Aglais io, dagpauwoog) this spring on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects. We are at the onset of the first generation, though you can still find caterpillars. We hope for good numbers.

🦋📉 14 butterflies disappearing from the Mediterranean landscape #3 Black-eyed Blue (Glaucopsyche melanops) It has a single spring generation and inhabits open scrublands, grasslands and dry orchards, from low elevations up to around 1,000 m. 🔗 More information: catalanbms.org/en/especies/lycgme/

Occupancy-trend of the Chequered Skipper (bont dikkopje, C palaemon) in NL. After a long period of gradual decline distribution in 2024 and 2025 fell by almost 50%, esp. small populations were abandoned. Helas 2026 showed little recovery as far as we can tell now.

Enjoy this 5min film (in English) on how a potato field in N NL was transfered into a butterfly haven: vimeo.com/292261901 Geniet van dit filmpje van maar 5min over hoe een aardappelveld is veranderd in een vlinderparadijs door Willem van Hemmen: vimeo.com/292261901

With numbers of Painted Ladies (distelvlinder, V cardui) rising on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects, it's a good moment to put this invasion in perspective. The graph shows a small influx, comparable with 1996 and 2003, and smaller than 2009 and 2019. But lets see how it continues.

Hornet moth (Sesia apiformis) in Wageningen floodplains (NL). We see them every year, but still fun. Hoornaarvlinder (Sesia apiformis) in Wageningse uiterwaarden. We zien ze elk jaar, maar het blijft leuk.

As May progresses we slowly sink into a few weeks with low numbers of butterflies in NL. We used to call this the June-dip, but more and more of it occurs in May as a result of climate warming. Spring butterflies are almost gone, and summer butterflies start emerging around mid June.

Although the Holly Blue (boomblauwtje, C argiolus) is often seen in gardens, on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects by far the highest density is counted on heathland, where Common Heather (Calluna vulgaris) is an important foodplant.

This year sees an early arrival of Painted Ladies (distevlinder, V cardui) on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects. These butterflies come from the Mediterranean and migrated north through France. In some years the can be very abundant (eg 2009 and 2019), in other years almost missing.

A very poor spring generation of the Map (Landkaartje, A levana) on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects. Numbers are much lower than in 2025, but also lower than in most of 1990-2025. Low quality nettles because of the dry spring of 2025 caused a poor 3rd gen and low numbers now.

A relatively good year for the Orange Tip (oranjetipje, A cardamines) on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects. Last week we crossed the peak level and numers are going down again. The graphs also shows we have to start the season before 1 April or we miss part of the flight period.

Rake Loesje!

Where the distribution (=occupancy) of the Large white (groot koolwitje, P brassicae) is stable, it occurs everywhere, the population level is now significantly lower on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects, in spite of strong fluctuations. After 2008 the pop index never was >100.

Low numbers of Peacock (dagpauwoog, A io) on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects this year, after last years poor summer generation and missing 2nd gen because of poor quality nettles. This spring is also dry and much too warm so far, so things don't look good for nettles and peacocks this year.

Numbers of Chequered Skipper (bont dikkopje, C palaemon) can fluctuate a lot, but the last few years have been bad for the species with a decline of 70% since 1990. Also distribution (=occupancy) declined with 30%. As a species of moist woodland it has a problem with dry summers.

Density of Brimstone (citroenvlinder, G rhamni) on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects this spring higher than in spring 2025, but also higher than in summer 2025 (and these are the same butterflies as they hibernate as adult). They probably hibernated (or aestivated) quickly after emerging.

The increase of the Orangetip (oranjetipje, A cardamines) on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects (=populatie) is partly due to the expansion of the species (=occupancy) by 30%, but also the density has gone up between 1990 and 2025. If you go out now, you have a good chance of seeing this butterfly

The last 20 years the 2nd generation of the Dingy Skipper (Bruin dikkopje, E tages) in NL has become larger and larger, with the peak of the first generation moving weeks forward.

The mean flight date of the Orangetip (A cardamines) is now more than two weeks earlier than in 1990 on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects, though there are large fluctuations from year to year, depending on spring weather.

This is craziness on a mega scale. A 5C increase in spring temperatures in the arctic alpine zone in just c 30 years. The result is that forest is spreading north at 1km a year. It’s driving several endemic butterflies extinct. www.bc-europe.eu/webpage.php?...

Met de Samenhangende aanpak Landbouw, Natuur en Stikstof kiest ook de nieuwe Minister van Natuur voor mest, ammoniak, vervuiling en verder natuurverlies. Er zijn twee structurele tekortkomingen bij dit voorstel. open.overheid.nl/documenten/6...

Did you know we also record butterfly–flower interactions? 🦋🌸 Three decades of observations show how species loss limits the capacity of communities to reorganize their interactions in response to environmental change. 📄Read the scientific article: l1nq.com/L5wls

Addressing Gaps in Butterfly Population Monitoring to Catalyze Global Insect Conservation. This paper calculates a “Global Butterfly Index” using the Living Planet Index approach, paving the way for a global network of butterfly monitoring schemes. conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Trends of 2e gen Wall (argusvlinder, L megera) on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects show 3 groups: more or less stable in coastal dunes, 80-90% decline on semi-natural grassland and urban and 95-99% decline in agriculture and woodland.

Very different populationtrends for the Gatekeeper (oranje zandoogje, P tithonus) on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects: increase in the coastal dunes, declines in NE, more or less stable in the rest. And we don't really know why.

Butterfly density (numbers per 1000m) on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects in 2025 if each transect would have been counted each week. Only transects between 500-3000m length are used. Highest densities on islands in SW and along the IJssel river, lowest in low polders in Holland and Friesland.

Prof Paul Ehrlich has died at 93 I interviewed him in 2018, 50 years after the publication of The Population Bomb “Too many rich people in the world is a major threat to the human future, and cultural and genetic diversity are great human resources.” www.theguardian.com/cities/2018/...

New research in #RESInsectConsDiv Contribution of #CitizenSciences to the production of #butterfly species long-term trends doi.org/10.1111/icad.70066 #Biodiversity #MonitoringSchemes @manusaunders.bsky.social @wileyecology.bsky.social

Smoothed trend 1992-2025 of most Dutch butterflies from Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects. The color indicates the linear trend over the whole period. Each line starts at a value of 100. The black dot gives the 2025 index value.

After the extremly hot and dry summer of 2018 numbers of the Dark green fritillary (S aglaja, grote parelmoer) on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects crashed and has not recovered. I fear it could get extinct in NL soon, what is amazing for a species that can live in so many different habitats.

Here is the full paper #conservationevidence @richardfoxbc.bsky.social @djhbutterflies.bsky.social @martinswarren.bsky.social @ukbutterflies.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social @chrisvanswaay.bsky.social @pietervantieghem.bsky.social besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

The density of the Common Blue (P icarus) per 50km square in 2024 on eBMS Butterfly monitoring transects (www.butterfly-monitoring.net) shows a W-E cline, with lowest densities in Ireland, UK, Portugal and NL and highest in Sweden, Austria, Italy and Balkans.

In 2025 the number of transects where expert volunteers count butterflies in NL rose to almost 1600. On most of them (1257) all butterflies are counted, but some transects are for one species only or plots for egg-counts.