Meet the Butterflies and moths
The UK has 59 species of butterflies and 2,500 species of moths, but more than three-quarters of butterflies and two-thirds of moths have declined here over the last fifty years. These insects are as important as they are beautiful, both as pollinators helping plants reproduce and as food for a huge range of wildlife. Their predators include other insects, frogs, slow worms, hedgehogs and bats. Many birds eat both adults and caterpillars, with caterpillars especially important for feeding the young. This, and the fact that they will happily visit or live at pretty much any outdoor space, means you can make a big difference for moths and butterflies, wherever you are, and know you’ll being helping so much more as a result.
What they need
- Some species migrate long distances whilst others find nooks and crannies to hibernate in. Both need an early supply of nectar in spring, whether to fire them up after their winter sleep or to replenish energy spent on the wing, and both need to feed up in autumn – some as late as November – ahead of hibernation or migration.
- Caterpillars often feed on the leaves of different plants to their nectar-drinking parents, and females may have quite specific preferences for which plants to lay their eggs on.
- Being such a popular meal for the rest of the animal kingdom means finding cover is really important, and their fragile bodies need shelter from harsh weather too.
What you can do to help
- Letting lawns grow longer so some flowers can bloom; leaving a wild patch or a meadow strip; these can provide a mix of food, cover and potentially plants to lay eggs on.
- Log piles, dead hedges, compost heaps, dry stone walls, rockeries, green walls and anything else with shady spaces can also provide a handy place to hide away.
- Coordinate with your neighbours, including above and below you, to create a network of nectar-rich pitstops between feeding, breeding and sleeping sites.
- Grow groups of the same plants together so it’s easier for butterflies and moths to find them, and coordinate your plant flowering months too so that from spring to late autumn there’s always something in flower nearby .
- Experiment with larger and smaller containers, window and balcony boxes – even the hardest of surfaces can be made hospitable to butterflies and moths with a few pots and planters.
- Bog gardens, damp soil on pond margins, hoverfly lagoons or even a bowl filled with damp soil and placed in the shade near flowers provide opportunities for ‘puddling’, especially during hot weather.
- On the other hand, they can often be seen basking to warm up in the sun. Rockeries provide great basking sites, as does any planting in sunny places.
- Avoid pesticides which can both kill moths and butterflies and their caterpillars and poison the animals that eat them. Too much night lighting can also be problematic for moths and some of the bats that feed on them.
Fascinating facts
- Many moths and butterflies exhibit incredible camouflage and mimicry to avoid predators.
- Some butterflies get drunk feeding on fermenting fruit
- Butterflies have some taste buds on their proboscis and some on their antennae but many species have most of their taste buds on their feet.
