Long, hot summer
It’s been a great year for butterflies – and many other flying insects, too. Matthew Oates has a round-up of the season
Comma, showing its ragged wings. Look out for their second generation which will soon emerge. Photo by David Duarte Crespo on Unsplash
This has been an outstanding summer for butterflies, and for many other warmth-loving insects. They’ve bounced back well from an unusually low ebb, after their numbers plummeted during the miserable summer of 2024. It’s a rags-to-riches tale, but that’s insects for you: boom and bust specialists, pushing limits.
There are many contenders for 2025’s Butterfly of the Year, including rarities and common species. The comma, a distinctive butterfly, naturally ragged, is a leading contender – and with the bulk of its autumn brood yet to emerge. Look out for tawny commas feasting on overripe blackberries.
Due to the good weather some species are fitting in extra broods, notably the peacock with its ‘eye feather’ markings. Some of our rarer species have produced an extra brood too, including one of our rarest, the heath fritillary. Others have spread north, appearing in new counties or reappearing in counties from where they’d long been extinct. The elusive purple emperor has spread into Derbyshire and Yorkshire, for the first time ever, and has reappeared in Herefordshire after a gap of half a century.
The majestic purple emperor. The males eat poo and carrion. Photo by Erik Karits on Pexels
Moths have been at it too, with many unusual or even new species turning up on our shores, and spectacular day-flying species such as the Jersey tiger flaring up all over southern Britain. Hummingbird hawkmoths are everywhere – and no one forgets their first ‘hummer’. This is a great time to develop an interest in moths, as there’s so much happening.
Other remarkable insects have appeared, including preying mantis on the Isle of Wight. These guys are adept are exploiting new weather-driven opportunities: have wings, will travel.
On the other hand, many insects have had shorter flight seasons than usual, with numbers crashing during the heatwaves, and it’s been a difficult year for many wetland insects as their habitats have dried up.
Weather permitting, next year could be an amazing one for our butterflies – fingers’ crossed! We can help that happen by not over-tidying our gardens this autumn. Give the caterpillars and pupae a chance to survive, and they’ll emerge to wow us all again next year.
Matthew Oates is a naturalist and lepidopterist with a particular love of purple emperors. His book about them, His Imperial Majesty, is available here.
