[above photo by jean-claude]
Five ways of looking at a butterfly:
A third of Europe’s butterflies have populations in decline, losses Martin Warren, chief executive of Butterfly Conservation, calls “extremely worrying. They point to a major loss of wildlife and wild habitats across Europe.” (Along with their contribution to pollination, butterflies are indicator species.) Meanwhile numbers of North America’s Monarchs, whose 5,000-kilometre migration is a wonder of the continent, have dwindled by over 90% since the mid-1990s as their milkweed habitat disappears.
See article by Barbara Kiser: Five ways of looking at a butterfly : A view From the Bridge