Bad year for the butterfly: “A lot of cause for concern”

Insects are having a hard time in the Netherlands. In recent years, the number of insects has decreased by 75 percent. In addition to the wild bee, butterflies are also having a hard time. Fifteen of the 75 species have already disappeared. “I don’t want to live in a country where we think: ‘we couldn’t have those butterflies because we’re too busy with ourselves’,” says Nicky Castricum, who is called the butterfly man of Amsterdam by other Amsterdammers.

Never this bad

During the wet spring, the butterfly had a hard time. “It soon became clear that the usual spring numbers would not be achieved. Where you normally see the orange tip and the small cabbage white flying at the beginning of spring, they were nowhere to be seen this year. As bad as last spring, we never before,” says de Vries.

Last year’s drought was also not ideal for the butterflies, says Ineke Wynia, ecologist of Landscape Noord-Holland: “Last late summer was very dry. Caterpillars depend on host plants, but if these are dried out, the caterpillars have too little food and can they don’t survive. Only you won’t see that until they’re supposed to emerge.”

The moths are also suffering from last year’s drought, says Wynia. “We always look at the amount of moths through a box with a UV lamp, and see if there are any flying. There have even been nights when nothing flew at all.”

“You see that biodiversity is becoming dependent on the kclimate change, My fear is to lose butterflies,” says Castricum. The moment plants are no longer pollinated, this is a problem for insects that depend on it. As a result, there are fewer insects, they pollinate less and nature is being cut back.

Butterfly man of Amsterdam

Nicky Catricum was nicknamed the butterfly man of Amsterdam because he was always busy with butterflies and caterpillars from an early age. Now he’s committed more biodiversity in Amsterdam. For example, he has a number of places in Amsterdam-Noord where he sows fields with native seeds, trees and shrubs in order to attract butterflies and caterpillars. There are also picnic tables and education boards, he gives lectures, workshops and butterfly expeditions.

Many people understand the importance of greening, but don’t really know how to do it. “People often opt for a vegetable container or colorful flowers. But all in the interest of people, while you have to start with what is good for the insects, that should be your starting point.”

Castricum is occasionally asked by the municipality to design parks in Amsterdam-Noord: “It is important that nature once again comes to number 1, and that it does not become too much of a prestige thing with a few plants and the wrong trees. You see that the nnature is a neglected child. It’s really tough standing up for the butterflies and caterpillars.”

He agrees that his nature fields have an effect. “Last year my answer was 100%. This year we really had a hard time with dry periods and a wet spring. Those extremes don’t cooperate and you can see that climate change really counts now.”

Fritillary butterfly on Texel

The negative impact of dry periods is slightly smaller in North Holland. “This is due to the clay and peat soils in contrast to dry sandy soils in other provinces,” says the Butterfly Foundation.

In addition, the foundation sees that the number of butterflies in North Holland is clearly doing better than in the east of the country: “The small fox, a butterfly species, is much more common in North Holland than in Gelderland and Brabant, for example.”

The large fritillary is a critically endangered butterfly. One of the three remaining Dutch populations can still be found on Texel. To preserve these, dog and dune violets and nectar sources around the dunes are important. In addition, eggs and caterpillars are mainly found in vegetation that is rich in structure. Here, caterpillars can take cover from prey and shelter from extreme drought.

Butterfly count

This coming weekend, from Friday 7 to Sunday 9 July, the annual garden butterfly count will take place. “We really like to get an idea of ​​the number of butterflies. Every year we choose a weekend in which we can count the peak of summer butterflies in gardens. In this way we hope to get an idea what about the butterflies in gardens. This way we can see which butterflies are doing well or less well.”

Castricum sees that garden centers are full of cultivars and exotics that insects have no use for: “It is really sad that garden centers do not take their responsibility and do not opt ​​for the good. That is why you cannot best choose native host plants and non-toxic plants. The problem is that you can’t just find them at a garden center. You really have to look for organic growers, but then you help the butterflies and caterpillars.”