Lepidoptera Conservation Bulletin 2011 - Butterfly Conservation

Noake. B., Rosenthal, A., Parsons, M. & Bourn, N. (eds.) (2011) Lepidoptera Conservation
Bulletin Number 11: April 2010 – March 2011, Butterfly Conservation, Wareham. (Butterfly
Conservation Report No. S11-13)
1 Introduction
The Lepidoptera Conservation Bulletin summarises the wide ranging efforts being undertaken to
conserve the UK’s moths and butterflies. The bulletin concentrates on the work of Butterfly
Conservation staff from around the UK. It also includes brief coverage of Butterfly Conservation’s
significant recording and monitoring schemes, the Moths Count project (incorporating the National
Moth Recording Scheme, see www.mothscount.org), the Butterflies for the New Millennium project and
the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme. We also report on partnership working with other organisations
and go beyond our shores to include an update on Butterfly Conservation Europe.
From 2000 onwards we have produced one Lepidoptera Conservation Bulletin a year, publishing this
around April in advance of the main field season, with the exception of 2008 when we produced our
Conservation Review: 2000-2008. The circulation of this Bulletin includes, amongst others, County
Moth Recorders, County Butterfly Recorders, Butterfly Conservation Branch Moth Officers, Branch
Conservation Officers, representatives of partner organisations and the main offices of the
governmental conservation agencies. In an effort to reduce costs, but also to aid circulation, we now
distribute the Bulletin electronically (although hard copies are available on request) and it will also be
available as a download on the Butterfly Conservation website (www.butterflyconservation.org/lepidopteraconservationbulletin).
This all helps to ensure a much wider and raised
profile for moth and butterfly conservation.
Whilst it was predominantly an indifferent year in the light traps, a highlight of the year from the moth
point of view was the publication of the Provisional Atlas of the UK’s Larger Moths, giving distribution
maps for 868 species derived from c.11.3 million records. For many of the Geometridae this is the first
time that maps had been produced, whilst it is about 30 years since those for the Noctuidae were last
published. Closely following on from this came British and Irish moths: an illustrated guide to selected
difficult species. Hopefully both of these publications will aid and encourage further recording. At the
time of writing c.11.4million moth records have been uploaded on to the National Biodiversity Network
(NBN), this being the largest dataset on the NBN by some distance. This is a magnificent achievement
and our thanks go to all County Moth Recorders and other compilers, as well as all recorders, for all
their hard work. Our thanks also go to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and the other funding bodies
and organisations for making this possible. Although the HLF funding has now come to an end, the
National Moth Recording Scheme, part of the Moths Count project, will continue, and we intend to build
on these achievements. Please keep the records coming in and target any gaps. Analysis of the data
collated from the scheme is also underway and we hope to provide feedback on this analysis in due
course.
For butterflies 2010 brought welcome news for many beleaguered species. The cold winter and warm,
settled early summer enabled UK Biodiversity Action Plan species such as Dingy Skipper Erynnis
tages, Silver-studded Blue Plebejus argus and Marsh Fritillary Euphydryas aurinia to regain some of
the ground lost over recent decades. However, other species fared less well and it was also a poor
year for immigrant butterflies. New national distribution maps were produced from the latest five-year
survey by the Butterflies for the New Millennium recording scheme and analysis of the 2.4 million
butterfly records collated during the period is underway.
Amongst the many interesting publications of 2010 (see the Bibliography at the end of this Bulletin) it is
perhaps worth highlighting here the updated edition of the classic butterfly book The butterflies of
Britain and Ireland by Butterfly Conservation Vice President Jeremy Thomas, with illustrations by
Richard Lewington. Additionally, 2010 saw the publication of the European Red List of Butterflies by
Chris Van Swaay et al, highlighting that many of Europe’s butterflies are under threat, as well as A new
Red List of British Butterflies (Fox et al, 2010). The latter showed the parlous state of butterflies in
Britain, with 37% of species categorised as either extinct or threatened at the national level – a higher
proportion than for any other recently assessed groups, including birds, vascular plants and
dragonflies. Another significant title, Silent Summer, edited by Norman McLean, covers what has
happened to wildlife in Britain and Ireland over the last 50 years. Chapters include Butterflies by
Jeremy Thomas and Moths by Richard Fox et al.
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