Tag: Butterflies

Sacramento Mountains Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas anicia cloudcrofti)
Sacramento Mountains checkerspot: the last known individual in human care, a caterpillar, died in May 2026. The subspecies has not been confirmed in the wild since 2022; whether it still occurs there is uncertain. Bild: Euphydryas anicia subsp. cloudcrofti (Ferris & R.Holland, 1980) Observed in United States of America by Chris Grinter, CC BY-NC 4.0, via GBIF

Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly: last known caterpillar has died

May 5, 2026, ABQ BioPark in Albuquerque, New Mexico: The last known caterpillar of the Sacramento Mountains checkerspot butterfly dies—and with it, perhaps, the chance to save an entire butterfly subspecies from extinction. Researchers had hoped that the caterpillar would still transform into an adult butterfly. Then it might have

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Morants Bläuling – Männchen
Only three specimens of Morant's blue have survived — all of them males.

Morant’s blue – What the females looked like remains uncertain

Three male specimens remain Walter Morant, probably a dedicated collector and observer of nature in what was then the British colony of Natal in southern Africa, was among the early members of the Natural History Association of Natal, founded in 1868. There he gave lectures and exhibited insects—with a particular

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Moth Drepanogynis insciata (Axiodes insciata) rediscovered after more than 140 years
For almost 150 years it was considered lost: this photo by Cameron Scott shows a male specimen of Drepanogynis insciata in January 2022 in Mossel Bay (South Africa) – alive, emerald-green, and back in the focus of science for the first time. (© cyamscott via iNaturalist, CC BY-NC 4.0)

South Africa: Moth thought extinct rediscovered after 147 years

Until a few years ago, the geometrid moth Drepanogynis insciata, which for a long time was listed under the name Axiodes insciata, was little more than a footnote in entomology. For nearly 150 years, only two historical museum specimens from the vicinity of the South African town of Swellendam and

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Rote Liste Tagfalter und Widderchen 2025: Mosel-Apollofalter - vom Aussterben bedroht
The Moselle Apollo (Parnassius apollo vinningensis), which occurs only in Germany, is classified as Critically Endangered in the new Red List — its last populations are concentrated on a few steep slopes in the Moselle Valley. (© Reinhold Essing User:Esinger, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

New Red List of Butterflies & Burnet Moths: 55% extinct, threatened or extremely rare

The current Red List of Butterflies and Burnet Moths documents a worrying trend: almost every second one of the 207 species and subspecies occurring in Germany is now threatened with population decline or already extinct. A total of ten species are considered lost, while another 93 fall into one of

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Blauschillernder Feuerfalter (Lycaena helle)
The violet copper (Lycaena helle) is considered Near Threatened across Europe. It depends on cool, wet meadows—habitats that are declining in many regions because of drainage and changes in land use. (© Frank Vassen from Brussels, Belgium, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

New Red List 2025: Threat to European butterflies has worsened enormously since 2010

The new European Red List of Butterflies 2025 makes it clear: Europe’s butterflies are under increasing pressure—and many species are close to disappearing. The current assessment shows not only a serious deterioration since 2010, but also how strongly habitat loss, intensive agriculture and climate change are affecting populations. A continent

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Betroffen vom Schmetterlingssterben in den USA: der Monarchfalter
The monarch butterfly is one of the most threatened butterfly species in North America. Because of habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change, its populations have declined drastically in recent decades. (© Kenneth Dwain Harrelson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

New study on insect decline: butterflies in the USA reduced by 22%

A long-term study published in November had already documented the drastic decline of butterflies in Central Europe. Now a comprehensive study by Washington State University in Vancouver, USA, confirms that butterfly populations are also rapidly dwindling in North America. Between 2000 and 2020, the total number of butterflies counted declined

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Schwalbenschwanz (Papilio machaon)
The Old World swallowtail, one of Europe's largest and most impressive butterflies, is widespread across the Palearctic and represented by numerous subspecies. Its subspecies endemic to Taiwan was likely wiped out by the 1999 earthquake. (© Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Taiwan: How an earthquake wiped out a butterfly species

An earthquake in 1999 may have wiped out the Taiwanese swallowtail subspecies Papilio machaon sylvina forever. According to a recent study in the journal PLOS, this may be the first documented case in which an earthquake caused the extinction of a butterfly. The Old World swallowtail (Papilio machaon), one of

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Scotorythra megalophylla
Female Kona giant looper moth from the book Fauna Hawaiiensis (1899). Image: Scotorythra_megalophylla-Fauna_Hawaiiensis1899.PNG: Edwin Wilsonderivative work: Peter Maas, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Kona Giant Looper Moth

Just one of many What makes the Hawaiian archipelago special is the enormous number of endemic species found there. Because of the islands’ isolation, the species living there split over time into many different new species. The genus Scotorythra, for example, consists exclusively of moths endemic to Hawaii and comprises

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Mauritius-Schnauzenfalter (Libythea cinyras) - Holotyp
The only known specimen of the extinct Mauritius libythid butterfly. The upper side of the wings was dark brown with orange patches. (© "014172727_Libythea_cinyras_HT_Dorsal" - Libythea cinyras Trimen, 1866 by The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, CC BY 4.0, via GBIF)

Mauritius Libythid Butterfly

Known from only one specimen Only a single specimen of the Mauritius libythid butterfly or snout butterfly is known, collected in 1865 on the Mascarene island of Mauritius in the Moka District. A certain Mr. Colville Barclay discovered the snout butterfly and gave it to the British-South African naturalist Roland

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Amerikanische Sackmotte Coleophora leucochrysella
A photo of the American casebearer moth published on iNaturalist in June 2020 shows that, contrary to earlier assumptions, this species is not extinct. Scientists had previously believed that the insect from the casebearer moth family disappeared between 1904 and 1950. (© Steven Whitebread, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Chestnut casebearer moth

Chestnut blight from East Asia devastated more than just the American chestnut The American chestnut casebearer moth relied on the native American chestnut (Castanea dentata) for survival. This hardwood tree was the sole host plant for its larvae, ultimately leading to the highly specialized moth species’ downfall. Once one of

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