Research shows that the numbers of butterflies in meadows and pastures of Europe are in a continuous decline. Grassland butterflies will soon play an even greater role in EU nature conservation legislation. Based on the occurrences and population trends of butterflies, the member states are supposed to document the progress they have made in implementing the planned Nature Restoration Law .
BirdGuides 1a5cafae-840b-4a57-87d3-4a242a6efc41 In a rapidly changing world, headlines about the many insect species losing as a result of human activity are depressingly commonplace these days. For all the losers though, the Anthropocene has some remarkable winners – and among European butterflies, few can be more impressive than Southern Small White. Female Southern Small White near Maastricht, Limburg, on 27 September 2015 – at the time, the first specimen for the Netherlands (Pieter Vantieghem).
Historic status Historically, this was essentially a Mediterranean species, enjoying a relatively broad distribution across the warmer parts of southern Europe. In the west, it is local on the Iberian Peninsula, spreading east into the Pyrenees, over south-east France and the southern edge of the Alps, down the Italian peninsula, into the Balkans, and as far as eastern Turkey. Outposts in Morocco and on the Slovakian-Hungarian border are probably now extinct. Despite its broad range though, this species is often overlooked, thanks to its similarity to other species of Pierid, such our own native Small White, and its quite localised distribution in some areas, where it forms small colonies around its foodplants – a number of crucifers of warm, rocky places, particularly Candytuft (
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Share High in the Swiss-Italian Alps, a researcher attempts to capture a rare Raetzer’s ringlet butterfly. Andrea Battisti To study a rare butterfly, this scientist had to get vertical Jan. 29, 2021 , 11:15 AM Desperate cliffs call for desperate measures: To study one of Europe’s rarest butterflies, which live on near-perpendicular slopes high in the Swiss-Italian Alps, scientists resorted to rappelling down vertiginous mountainsides. Their efforts have paid off with some encouraging data. Scientists first described the orange-and-brown Raetzer’s ringlet ( Erebia christi) more than 100 years ago. But its treacherous alpine habitat prevented them from studying it in the field. That changed in 2015, when officials with the Osola protected area in northern Italy reached out to two independent insect researchers who were also veteran rock climbers. Andrea Battisti and Matteo Gabaglio, who each had decades of sport climbing experience, realized they could descend into the butterfly’s lair by hanging from a rope (see video, below).