The Scottish Government are using butterflies and moths to monitor the state of the environment.

Recently Scotland has experienced warmer weather and with this, several new species of butterfly and moth have been seen on Scottish shores. However, several resident species of butterfly are now in decline, or their patterns sorely disrupted.

An example is the small heath butterfly – this is normally not seen until after September but has been spotted much earlier this year. The dingy skipper is under threat with populations declining in Scotland by 75% in the last 20 years through a combination of weather-related and human activities.

Climate change is already known to affect the habits and diversity of insects in particular areas and butterflies and moths are known to be particularly sensitive therefore it makes sense to monitor local species to discover the state of the local environment.

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