We are becoming a nation of bee lovers (quite rightly)….but what about our other pollinators? Are they becoming forgotten friends?

🐝 Bees - we love them. They are vital to our very existence on earth and fortunately awareness is growing as to what a crucial part they play in life and our need to help them. But…. what about our other pollinators such as butterflies and moths?

Sometimes, I feel like these guys get a little forgotten about, yet, they are a stunning and key part of the UK’s wildlife. They are also crucial indicators of the health of our biodiversity and also play a role in the food chain, as well as being pollinators of plants.

🦋 Butterflies react quickly and are known to change their behaviour and activity which can provide us with an early warning that something is not quite right in a particular habitat or area. This is the reason that butterflies are among some of the most monitored animals in the world.

If there is a declining number of butterflies, this then has a massive impact on our birds and other wildlife too. Birds plan their breeding season around when there will be most caterpillars, so if the numbers in caterpillars are low then our chicks will not be getting the food they need.

There are currently 57 resident species of butterfly in the UK. Sadly 5 species have become extinct in the last 150 years and three quarters of British butterflies are now in decline.

According to the State of the UK’s Butterflies 2022 report, it was found in 2022 that 80% of butterfly species in the UK have decreased in either levels, distribution or both of these in the last 47 years.

How can you play a part in helping the butterflies?

📝 Record any butterfly and moth sightings.

These records help charities like the butterfly conservation in creating a world where butterflies and moths thrive and can be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere.

You can record any butterfly sightings here:

🌱 Create a ‘Wild Space’ where butterflies and moths can complete their lifecycles.

🌸 Try to grow plants that provide butterflies and moths with a refuge where they can go to stock up on nectar and also lay eggs on plants.

Lots of the more common garden butterflies such as the Comma and Red Admiral lay eggs on stinging nettles, whereas other butterflies will lay on more specific garden plants.

🏡 Create a mini meadow or ‘wild space’ in your garden, where moths and butterflies can complete their lifecycles.

🪴 Plant up pot plants on your balcony or in your courtyard.

✅ Use peat free compost.

❌ Don’t use pesticides. Pesticides containing neonicotinoids can remain in the plant for several months & potentially harm pollinators which drink nectar from the flowers.

☀️ Leave bare patches of wall, fence or earth, or place large stones in sunny borders….butterflies love to bask in the sunshine.

🪵 Make a log pile, where butterflies and moths can hibernate. Some moths breed in dead wood too.

🦋 Check out our Seedball Butterfly Mix Tin or a Bloom Bottle to get started in creating a butterfly haven in your own garden.