Dónal Hickey: Increase in only one butterfly species here
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A white butterfly flitting from plant to plant in the garden signalled the coming of summer. People are welcoming the return of butterflies, drawn to plants such as buddleia and lavender, which will be with us until late September.
Though once as common as bluebells in May, the butterfly population has clearly dropped. Monitoring by the National Biodiversity Data Centre shows a 57% decline in Ireland between 2008 and 2022.
Only the Holly Blue butterfly showed an increase in the last decade, with all other species in various degrees of decline, mainly due to loss of habitat and land use changes.
Drainage and planting of bogs and peat extraction have certainly reduced the distribution of peatland species, not to mention changes in agriculture as 85% of our land is farmed.
Herbicides, pesticides, and synthetic fertilisers all damage vegetation and butterflies, according to Jesmond Harding of the Butterfly Conservation Council.
It might surprise some to learn that invasive plant species, which light up the roadsides of places like West Cork, Clare and Kerry, also have an impact. Montbretia, for instance, is described by Harding, as a "serious pest species", which eliminates all native herbs that butterflies, moths and other insects need for their life cycles.
Similarly, another culprit is fuchsia which has little value as a breeding plant, unlike some of the native shrubs it crowds out. Calling for the eradication of such plants, Harding advises people not to grow them and to put in native shrubs instead.
In England, meanwhile, the National Trust is planting thousands of flowers to help a rare butterfly. Around 20,000 marsh violets — a favourite food source for caterpillars of the Small, Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly — are being grown across the Shropshire Hills.
It is hoped the clumps of flowers, with 50 plants each put into 400 separate patches, will attract more butterflies which have undergone severe decline in England.
Good news for butterfly fans – we're planting 20,000 marsh violets across the Shropshire Hills to help the rare small pearl-bordered fritillary thrive.
— National Trust (@nationaltrust) May 11, 2024
This project has been made possible thanks to funding from the National England Species Recovery Programme. pic.twitter.com/bjnQOJOOZI
Harding said there’s no such habitat enhancement scheme here for this butterfly, but the Burren programme provides support for environmentally sustainable farming.
"In terms of the Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly, scrub control and appropriately-timed grazing are the chief conservation tools," he added.
Harding’s authoritative covers every Irish species, their behaviour, distribution and conservation status, and also tells what can be done to help endangered species.
He says butterflies are symbols of all that’s good and healthy in the world and thrive where biodiversity is functioning as it ought.
Let’s leave the final words to the romantic 19th century French writer, George Sand: "Butterflies are but flowers that blew away one sunny day when nature was feeling its most inventive and fertile."