PHOTO VIA WIKIPEDIA, CC BY-SA
The picture
Butterflies and moths pollinate wildflowers and feed countless birds - and their caterpillars are the base of many food webs. Populations have dropped sharply, but planting native host plants and leaving wild patches produces visible results within a single season.
The science
Order Lepidoptera, ~180,000 species. Most caterpillars are specialists - monarchs, for example, can only develop on milkweed, so losing one plant can mean losing the butterfly.
In numbers
Worth repeating at dinner
Monarch butterflies migrate up to 3,000 miles, a journey spanning multiple generations.
- WWF
Moths outnumber butterflies roughly 9 to 1 and do much of the night-time pollinating.
- Xerces Society
What they face
Tidy lawns and herbicides wipe out the milkweed and wildflowers caterpillars need.
Xerces Society
Insecticides kill caterpillars and the adults that feed on treated flowers.
Xerces Society
What is already working
Milkweed and local wildflowers feed caterpillars and adults.
Un-mowed corners give eggs and chrysalises a place to survive.
Reasons for hope
Roadside and garden milkweed corridors are being planted across North America.
A patch of native flowers can draw butterflies back within weeks.
Meet them
Small actions that reach them
People doing the big work
Hopeling is also a pocket companion: one fact, one small act a day. Open the app