The contrast with last fall is remarkable: so it is Peacock Eyes (photo above) and Atlantis that have a sowing year. The spring of 2022 was also full of hope. Many peacocks and foxes have survived the winter. They flew a lot and early, and the first new generation was big. Even the little fox, which was recently placed on the Red List (the Endangered Species List), seemed to be making a comeback.
The mass of caterpillars that followed suggested a fine spring that was best for late summer and fall. Unfortunately, that good news dried up over the summer, literally. The host plants, the “hosts and wives” of the larvae in this case, weren’t doing well due to drought, so the larvae didn’t have enough food. As a result, the larvae of foxes, peacocks and other species of butterflies that require nettle are almost lost to the second generation.
The little fox suffered the heaviest losses, but the peacock and Aurelia’s broken eyes are barely present at the moment. This is very bad news, because it is the butterflies that fly now that have to go into winter and take care of the population that began next spring. What began as a year filled with hope ends in great uncertainty.
