The Last Butterflies

The author has devoted his life to butterflies and here he considers six of the rarest species as well as the extinction of the British Large Blue and the potential perils for Monarchs as an abundant species of butterfly. Recent reports indicate a 40% overall decline in insect life, of which butterflies are a part, exhibiting both fragility and resilience and offering both gloom and hope. The author asks what we can do to reverse course and prevent impending extinction, as well as the general lessons that can be learned in terms of biodiversity. Among these is the central role of habitat fragmentation and loss in diverse populations. His guiding principle is that humans should not be the cause of the extinction of these extremely rare species by promoting rather than destroying biodiversity - it is a moving personal ecological odyssey.