Its been a great year for Clouded Yellows, but how about these action shots by Rod Jenkins showing upperside of both male and female www.dorsetbutterflies.com/2025/09/clou...

Curious to see a Brimstone this late in the year, but a few have been seen in Dorset in the last week according to our sightings page. Anyone know what has caused them to come out of hibernation?

A long walk along Portsdown Hill to see if I could find any Long-tailed Blues drew a blank but did throw up a pristine Wall, a species that is arguably rarer in this location than LTB? Two Brown Hairstreak eggs, some distance away from previous locations indicating they are spreading far and wide.

Pollinators such as wild #bees, #butterflies, and #hoverflies are in trouble worldwide. A major new study, published in Science, shows that the oft-quoted figure of 10% semi-natural habitat in farmland landscapes is far too little to safeguard pollinators jeffollerton.co.uk/2025/09/26/p...

I thought I may have had my chips re: catching a Clifden Nonpareil this year, so I was extra pleased to find one of these hulking beauties clinging to the underside of the Cold Harbour office moth trap funnel this morning #TeamMoth @dorsetmoths.bsky.social

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... 🧪

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...

Very excited to share that I'm writing a new book, THE GHOSTS OF CHALK COUNTRY - about the loss of England's chalk downland: a tale of flowers, fascism & freedom. To be published by @wmcollinsbooks.bsky.social in April 2027: www.thebookseller.com/rights/willi... Website: ghostsofchalkcountry.org

New research - Weak recovery of insectivorous bird populations after ban of neonicotinoid in France, hinting at lasting impacts #pesticides HT @jeroenvandersluijs.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

💚 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

We are happy to share this on a political level very important paper from our team - The Grassland Butterfly Index for Germany. Especially for the last ten years the results show a negativ trend for grassland butterflies in Germany doi.org/10.3897/natu... @pensoft.net @ufz.de #NRR

Faded beauty. A few Adonis Blues still going on the Purbeck Ridge yesterday, also great to see the recovery of the food plant Horseshoe Vetch after the drought, which left them shrivelled. In just 3 weeks they are now green and vigorous. @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

Seen quite a few around coastal Norfolk this year too.

saw 2 Walls at St Aldhelms today. Both pristine Also Clouded Yellow 2 Small Heath and A few Red Admirals @martinswarren.bsky.social

Still quite a few Walls around Corfe Castle, on their third brood. They have had a great year, but sadly the butterfly season is coming to an end soon.

Four major #CAP payment schemes are missing the mark 🎯 A new IEEP report lays out two pathways for reforming #CommonAgriculturalPolicy payments 🔀 1️⃣ Remove and reinvest 2️⃣ Redesign Read more 👇

For butterflies and moths the analysis matches what we’ve seen for a long time - a mixture of winners and losers in terms of distribution change

Yes some species occupancy has declined, and some has increased. But for those that occupancy hasn't changed much abundance certainly has. Potentially even for those species that have spread they are doing so at low density

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?

Some excellent moths trapped while staying in a cottage near Welshpool (Montgomeryshire) at the weekend, including my first Dusky-lemon Sallow (Cirrhia gilvago) since 1998! #TeamMoth

Boreal plants are moving into the #Arctic and reshaping #tundra landscapes 🌱❄️ A 🟢NEW STUDY🟢 led by @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social and @creaf.cat reveals shrubs and grasses from boreal forests are expanding north. So what? 👇

Five individuals of three species in my moth trap (which I almost didn't set). All common species: Large Yellow Underwing, Rush Veneer, Shuttle-shaped Dart AND these two Lunar Underwings. Although common, these were my first Lunar Underwings (novice moth-er). Pretty aren't they? All lifers are! 😄

Good morning! 🦩 Due to high demand, we've just laid on a second week for A Spring in Provence, led by our popular leader Dave Fairhurst next April. Only 4 places left available to book on this feast of spring birds, butterflies, and wildflowers! 🦩 www.mariposanature.com/tours/wildli...

#Leptember day 19 White-letter hairstreak butterfly (Satyrium w-album) 1) how I usually see my first W-LH each year, flitting about above a Wych elm 2) how I'm sometimes privileged to see W-LH 3) I've only once seen a mating pair 4) & the result of that mating, a lovely caterpillar.

Please SIGN: The Amazon is near a tipping point – our climate and future hang in the balance. At COP30, leaders must act. Support rainforest protection – add your voice! #Amazon #ClimateAction ✍️ rainforest-rescue.org/petitions/13...

Best year since 2019 on Stevenage butterfly transect - 1496 counted. Average 1260 over 33 yrs since 1993 @bc-hertsmiddx.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Two fab caterpillars today in Corfe Castle: the stunning yellow and black warning colours of Pale Tussock (also with funky red tail!) + Fox moth. These are what got me into butterflies and moths in the first place. @dorsetmoths.bsky.social @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Two stages of life of a Caucasian Spotted Fritillary (Melitaea interrupta) in Türkiye. Both photos taken on one of our butterfly tours. Imago by guest Regine H and caterpillar by tour leader Ben Greenaway. #Leptember

Two Walls seen today at Tidmoor Point, Weymouth - one looking a little worn but the other very fresh looking and pristine.

While I was cleaning up the moth trap this morning a male southern small white was already flying around in the garden. See how the discal spot touches the surrounding veins over a few mm, in male small white this spot is smaller and does not or only barely touch the veins. #butterflyID

The SW winds delivered on a soggy night in Upton, with 90/28 in the garden trap this morning incl'g a (v.worn) Gem & a Scarce Bordered Straw (both NFG), plus Palpita Vitrealis, Silver Y, 2 Angle Shades, Four-spotted Footman, 5 Rush Veneer & RDP @dorsetmoths.bsky.social @migrantmothuk.bsky.social

A respectable 26spp + 60 moths on a mild night in Corfe Castle. Lots of goodies inc Feathered Ranunculus (nfy), Lunar Underwing, L-album Wainscot (nfy) and Frosted Orange @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social @dorsetmoths.bsky.social

The @theguardian.com climate pledge 2025 This update reflects the urgent and growing challenges facing our planet – and how the Guardian is more focused than ever on exposing the causes of the #climatecrisis www.theguardian.com/environment/...

This graph from @metoffice.gov.uk says it all about this summer's weather. Every month was at least a degree warmer than the average 20 years ago. Butterflies mostly did well but how will the drought have affected them? @savebutterflies.bsky.social

Brown Hairstreak, adult and egg, recorded on the outskirts of Caversham, near Reading, Berks, today.

Still got 2 of these guys around my Buddleia in south Dorset @dorsetbutterflies.bsky.social

Today marks the start of week 25! It's penultimate week of the UKBMS with just two more survey weeks remaining (though you can carry on longer if desired!) Its a good time to review your data, check everything has been entered correctly and congratulate yourself for your efforts!

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?

The Swallowtail (koninginnenpage, P machaon) had a good year on Dutch Butterfly Monitoring transects, clearly better than 2024 (though we have had better years). Exceptional was the large 3rd generation, which is usually small in NL.

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

African Grass Blue Butterfly (Zizeeria Knysna) - Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife Found in towns and villages and cultivated areas where watering, irrigation or drainage maintain vegetation in very hot dry conditions Found- N Africa, Cypress & Iberia #lycaenidae #africangrassblue #zizeeriaknysna

#Publication: Our Showcase project paper, led by Susanna Hempel, a PhD student at the University of Zürich, has been published in Basic and Applied Ecology: "The impact of abandonment and intensification on the biodiversity of agriculturally marginal grasslands – a systematic review".

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

BBC News - Rare butterfly spotted near Newcastle for first time since 1850 - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

In my garden in Ely, Cambridgeshire this week

A Wall was reported in Woodnewton Northants on 8th September, the first confirmed county record for 16 years!

Ours started about 30th August in Suffolk and seem to be doing well, with plenty of time for their caterpillars to reach hibernation size. Best year for several years.

Feels like it's going well in Cambs too. Getting records from places they haven't been seen since the 90s

Saw one in our North Dorset garden today. Fourth sighting of the year.

A few nice bits & pieces courtesy of the @portlandbirdobs.bsky.social trap this morning; Beautiful Gothic, White-speck, Scarce Bordered Straw, & Yellow Belle, with several Radford's Flame Shoulder also nice to see #TeamMoth @dorsetmoths.bsky.social