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Where are all the butterflies?

Our planet is a precariously balanced series of tightly connected systems that must all function within certain parameters for life to continue.

We have the carbon cycle, the water cycle and a raft of other natural systems that are driven by the laws of physics and are pretty immutable, however there are also far more fragile systems that could easily be disrupted to the point where life on the planet is no longer sustainable.

In the UK, a charity has called attention to what it sees as just such an existential disruption to our ecosystem.

A BBC report, titled Big Buterfly Count lowest in 14 years" tells the story.

According to the report, butterfly numbers are at their lowest point, after a 50-year-long decline.

We all love watching butterflies in the summer, especially large, beautiful varieties such as the orange and black Monarch. Not only are these a joy to observe but they also play an important part in the procreation of plant life across the face of the globe. Without their pollination activities, many plant species would have difficulty surviving.

It stands to reason therefore, that if butterfly numbers are down, this could strongly affect a crucial part of the food cycle. Without these delightful creatures, some plant species may cease to exist altogether and others would be significantly reduced in numbers.

Since so much life depends on plants, the flow on effect would have a disastrous impact on animal species -- including ourselves.

It's not just butterflies that are in decline however. Even the casual observer will have noticed that there just aren't as many flying insects around as their used to be -- perhaps with the exception of nasty wasps.

As man has come up with ever-more-effective insecticides and used those to protect crops and gardens, a huge amount of collateral damage seems to have been inflicted on the insect population.

Do you remember going on a long road trip back in the 1960s?

How often did you have to stop and wash all the dead insects from the windscreen of your car?

Do you have the same problem today? In fact, can you remember the last time your vision was obstructed by a haze of dead flying insects plastered all over the windscreen?

Chances are, you can't.

I've written about this before but it's worth bringing up again because the evidence continues to mount that we are shooting ourselves in the foot by decimating the populations of flying insects that are responsible for the fertility of our crops.

Even in mid-summer, areas covered in clover flower or lavender are no longer clouded in bees as they used to be in the days of my youth. In fact, I rarely see even a single solitary bee today, not even in my walks through the countryside.

Perhaps the veroa mite has had some effect but the decline in bee populations was clearly obvious long before that mite made its arrival on NZ's shores.

Life on our planet faces a myriad of challenges right now. Climate change, interruption of the food cycle through the demise of pollinating insects, global thermonuclear war... the list goes on.

Perhaps it's not a matter of "if" mankind will dig his own grave but *when* this will happen.

We are usless caretakers, whose idea was it to entrust the safety of the planet to us?

Carpe Diem folks!

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