Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Butterfly charity urges public to report garden sightings during lockdown

Post Thumbnail

A wildlife charity has launched a plea to help measure impacts of climate change while its scientists are in lockdown.

Butterfly Conservation has urged the public to join the initiative by recording where the little insects are thriving and logging the numbers of different species.

A vital indicator of the effects of climate change in the UK, butterfly phenology recording, will be severely affected this spring due to the restrictions on movement to halt the spread of coronavirus.

Richard Fox, the organisation’s associate director of ecording and research, said: “Studying the changing flight times and locations of butterfly species across the UK is vital to understanding the impacts of climate change on our native wildlife.

“So we are asking the general public to help us out. This is something you can do for science and climate change in your own back garden. We know that climate change is making butterflies emerge earlier in spring and some are spreading to new parts of the UK. We need you to tell us where and when you saw them.”

Two new studies by York University, in collaboration with Butterfly Conservation and other partners have shed some light on how butterflies and moths are responding to climate change, but there are still many unanswered questions.

Mr Fox added: “Keep a look out in your garden for butterflies such as the Brimstone, Comma, Speckled Wood, Holly Blue and Orange-tip. We want your records, and to know when you saw them on the wing.

“If you live in certain areas, particularly in northern England and in Scotland, we’re particularly interested in your observations as all of these butterflies are spreading northwards, colonising areas where they didn’t occur previously.

“The Comma, for example, has spread hundreds of miles northwards since the 1970s. Just this week, we received a sighting from a garden in Fife which was the first Comma that the volunteer had seen there in 60 years.

“You never know what you might see. There has even been a scattering of Painted Lady butterfly sightings across the country in the last week. This species is a migrant from warmer parts of Europe, which normally arrives at the end of May or early June.

“We can’t gather data in our usual ways this spring, so we need the help of everyone who is at home, with a garden or outdoor space, during the lockdown period.”

To submit a recording, go to www.butterfly-conservation.org/mysightings.