450 butterfly species rapidly declining due to warmer autumns in the western U.S.
A new study using citizen science data revealed a 1.6 percent drop per year since 1972, a worrisome development for the crucial pollinators.
ByLiz Langley
Email
Over the past four decades, more than 450 butterfly species have declined at an average rate of nearly 2 percent a year, according to a study published today in the journal
It’s already known that the western monarch has plummeted in population by 99.9 percent and was recently denied protection by the U.S. Endangered Species Act. But the study revealed lesser-known species, like the Boisduval’s blue and California’s state insect, the California dogface butterfly, are heading toward extinction.
Butterflies are vanishing in the western U.S.—but not for the reasons scientists thought sciencemag.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sciencemag.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A couple of decades ago, Scott Hoffman Black, executive director of the Xerces Society, would often complain about the dead insects splattered across his windshield during a drive across his home state of Nebraska.