Overview

• Midway through the count, participants have recorded 5,300 Jersey Tiger moths compared with 3,496 sightings during the entire 2024 event.
• The surge is credited to an unusually warm, dry summer that has enabled the day-flying moths to flourish outside their historic coastal and southern habitats.
• Sightings have extended into inland areas including Cardiff, Birmingham, Cambridgeshire and Essex, marking a notable range expansion.
• Dr Richard Fox warns that despite this uptick, long-term trends show population peaks shrinking and troughs deepening over the past five years.
• Data collected by volunteers during the Big Butterfly Count directly informs national strategies to protect more than 80% of UK butterfly species threatened by habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change.