Page 42 - ALG Issue 4 2022

biodiversity
Transform a Wild Space for butterflies and moths during the autumn and winter months
Butterflies and moths have declined by 76% in the last 46 years, a consequence of habitat loss and changes in land use. One of Butterfly Conservations’ three strategic goals is to reverse this decline by transforming 100,000 Wild Spaces in the UK by 2026. A hugely ambitious target, and we’d love your help! A Wild Space is anywhere that allows butterflies and moths to complete their lifecycle, enabling them to feed, breed and shelter. Any sized space can be a Wild Space, so long as it is permanent, free from pesticides and any compost used is peat free. Small changes on your allotment can support the recovery of these important indicators of a healthy environment, with a few suggestions below on how to transform and how to register your Wild Space.
FEEDING
Butterflies and moths need nectar for fuel to keep them airborne. Many good nectar plants are hardy, perennial,
and easy to grow, and having flowers available right through the butterfly season into autumn provides food some species need to build up their reserves in preparation for winter. Late summer and autumn nectar plants include Buddleia, French Marigold, Ice Plant (Sedum spectabile), Ivy, Knapweed, Lavender, Marjoram (Origanum), Michaelmas Daisy, Mint, Red Valerian, Scabious, and Thyme. Watch out for plants and seeds sold as ‘wildflowers’ as many are exotic or cultivated species that may not be suitable for butterflies. Instead, try to use native plants from local sources. Early winter is a great
time to plant spring-flowering bulbs that will feed the insects next year. Crocus, muscari, and hyacinth are just some of the bulbs you can plant now.
Providing nectar for adult butterflies is a great way to help, but it is
equally important to provide food
for caterpillars. Caterpillars get their nutrients from leaves, seeds, and roots and store these nutrients which they draw on for the rest of their lives as adult butterflies and moths. Although many caterpillars are fussy eaters, you can help boost dwindling populations by providing food sources. Plants for caterpillars include stinging nettles, holly and ivy, cuckoo flower and garlic mustard, hop, and common birdsfoot- trefoil. Honesty, nasturtium, perennial wallflower, and Dame’s violet are all good food for caterpillars of the white butterflies including Orange-tips.
BREEDING AND SHELTER
Most butterfly and moth species spend the winter as caterpillars and pupae
or eggs - they are still there even if you cannot see them! Over-wintering sites may be destroyed by management during the winter months. If you can resist tidying up until the spring, you will maintain the semi-natural habitats preferred by many butterflies and moths. Severely cutting back hedges to neat shapes, removing all long grass and the dead stems of plants, and clearing leaves from every corner of the allotment might provide aesthetic satisfaction, but these actions sweep away insects and their winter homes. Leaving areas of hedges unpruned for a
If you can resist tidying up until the spring, you will maintain the semi- natural habitats preferred by many butterflies and moths
year or two and some areas completely untouched, not raking leaves and creating habitat piles will provide space for overwintering insects.
Making your allotment a butterfly and moth paradise will benefit lots of other wildlife too. Bumblebees and hoverflies feed on nectar, whilst native plants, wild areas, and organic gardening will encourage a huge variety of insects, birds, mammals, and reptiles. Many of these creatures prey upon aphids and slugs and keep their numbers in check, and birds and hedgehogs will quickly learn that your allotment is a good source of food for their young.
Remember if you provide space for all these stages of the lifecycle you have created a Wild Space! You can register your Wild Space or pledge to transform a Wild Space at https://butterfly- conservation.org/wild-spaces
Anne-Louise Orange, Butterfly Conservation Wild Spaces Manager
Butterfly Conservation is the UK charity dedicated to saving butterflies, moths and our natural environment. Founded in 1968, we are a leading authority on the conservation of these beautiful creatures – key indicators of a healthy ecosystem– and we have achieved numerous successes for them locally, nationally and internationally.
Get in touch with the Wild Spaces team: Wildspaces@butterfly-conservation.org
42 Allotment and Leisure Gardener