The data showed that the overall number of butterflies recorded per count was at the lowest number it has been since the citizen survey began 12 years ago. This is in spite of more than 150,000 counts taking place \u2013 the highest number in the survey\u2019s history, and representing 38,000 hours of counting in the three-week survey period.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year\u2019s results show that the average number of butterflies and moths per count is the lowest we\u2019ve recorded so far,\u201d says Dr Zo\u00eb Randle, senior surveys officer at Butterfly Conservation. \u201cOn average people counted nine butterflies or moths per count, which is down from 11 in 2020, and down again from 16 in 2019. More counts are undertaken and submitted year on year, but it seems that there are fewer butterflies and moths around to be counted.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Whilst some species are undergoing long-term decline, it\u2019s thought that this year\u2019s unusual spring and early summer weather had a big impact on butterfly and moths. And the scientists are worried for the future of these insects, with more extreme weather events due to climate change predicted in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the UK\u2019s butterflies have more than one generation per year, meaning we would see adult butterflies in spring and summer,\u201d adds Randle. \u201cThe majority of these double-brooded species experienced their worst year since the start of the Big Butterfly Count in 2010. Weather changes are likely to be the cause of this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMarch 2021 was warmer than average which would have stimulated butterfly activity. However, May was very wet which will have hampered butterfly feeding and breeding. These combined weather effects are likely to have reduced the spring generation which has knock-on effects for the second generation in the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n Two of the species that were particularly low in number this year were the peacock and the small tortoiseshell butterflies. The peacock (pictured above<\/em>) was recorded at its lowest numbers since 2012, whilst the small tortoiseshell (main image<\/em>) had its third worst summer and the data shows that it is undergoing significant long-term decline.<\/p>\n The marbled white butterfly (pictured above<\/em>) actually had a very high abundance in this year\u2019s Big Butterfly Count, with a 213% increase on 2020. However, this is because last year\u2019s very sunny and warm spring meant that the species emerged from pupation earlier than normal, before the Big Butterfly Count took place and resulting in low numbers during the survey. Thus this year\u2019s abundance is actually normal for the species. The same is also true for the ringlet butterfly (pictured below<\/em>), which was up by 81% from 2020.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Key to table:\u00a0rank in abundance. species<\/strong>: abundance \u2013 average per count (% change from 2020)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Main image: Small tortoiseshell butterfly. \u00a9 Christopher Mills\/Butterfly Conservation<\/em><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Megan Shersby Published: Thursday, 07 October 2021 at 12:00 am The results of the Big Butterfly Count 2021 have been announced by the wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation, and reveal that the decline of butterflies and day-flying moths is continuing. The data showed that the overall number of butterflies recorded per count was at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":23,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2021\/10\/lowest-ever-number-of-butterflies-recorded-in-the-big-butterfly-count-2021-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2021\/10\/lowest-ever-number-of-butterflies-recorded-in-the-big-butterfly-count-2021-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2021\/10\/lowest-ever-number-of-butterflies-recorded-in-the-big-butterfly-count-2021-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2021\/10\/lowest-ever-number-of-butterflies-recorded-in-the-big-butterfly-count-2021-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2021\/10\/lowest-ever-number-of-butterflies-recorded-in-the-big-butterfly-count-2021-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2021\/10\/lowest-ever-number-of-butterflies-recorded-in-the-big-butterfly-count-2021-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2021\/10\/lowest-ever-number-of-butterflies-recorded-in-the-big-butterfly-count-2021-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Megan Shersby Published: Thursday, 07 October 2021 at 12:00 am The results of the Big Butterfly Count 2021 have been announced by the wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation, and reveal that the decline of butterflies and day-flying moths is continuing. The data showed that the overall number of butterflies recorded per count was at the…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/22"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Learn more about butterflies and moths:<\/h4>\n
![\""A\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2021\/10\/Peacock_Mark-Searle-Butterfly-Conservation-36b210f.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C403"\" "\\"\"Peacock\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""Marbled\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2021\/10\/Marbled-White_-Iain-H-Leach-Butterfly-Conservation-ace0429.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Marbled\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""Ringlet\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/23\/2021\/10\/Ringlet_Andrew-Cooper-Butterfly-Conservation-2-461da70.png?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"Ringlet\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>More citizen science surveys:\u00a0<\/h4>\n
Results of the Big Butterfly Count 2021<\/h3>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"