Young children are often found chasing fluttering butterflies and moths around gardens and parks but whilst they may be well-known for their beautiful brightly-coloured wings, the number of Scottish butterflies and moths is dwindling rapidly and natural habitats are in serious decline.

At CSFT, we want to raise awareness amongst locals across the Central Scotland Forest area of the important role butterflies and moths play in the environment.  They serve as valuable indicator species for assessing the quality of habitats and general levels of ecosystem health.  They have short life spans and therefore react quickly to subtle changes – such as the availability of food sources or the weather.

The opulent insects like long, warm days and so the recent influx of rain and dull weather have provided extremely unfavourable conditions and may have had a detrimental impact on some colonies and species’ populations.

As bogs have disappeared from the Scottish countryside, it is estimated that 90% of butterfly and moth habitats have been lost.  Combined with developments in housing, transport links, energy farms and recreational spaces, this has severely impacted on the butterfly’s environment.

To combat this, many butterfly and moth species have been reintroduced into British ecosystems.  One species which is making a strong comeback in the Central Belt area is the Comma Butterfly which is particularly distinctive, featuring orange and brown ragged wings and a white comma-shaped marking underneath, and has been spotted across Scotland.

The diversity of the landscape in the Central Scotland region allows a greater variety of butterfly species to thrive, from the striking Scotch Argus butterfly only found at sea-level and the Emperor moth in moorlands to the Small Blue butterfly which prefers urban areas. 

It is believed there are 34 species of butterfly in total recorded in the region, and although a definitive list of Scottish moth species does not exist, it is thought that Central and Southern Scotland are likely to boast the greatest numbers.

At CSFT, we want to encourage and educate local communities to take an active interest in the butterfly and moth species which live in their area. 

If you are interested in monitoring and identifying butterfly and moth colonies, visit www.butterly-conservation.org/scotland for helpful identification guides including descriptions and imagery.