A butterfly’s ability to absorb or reflect heat from the sun with its wings could be a matter of life and death in a warming world, British research published yesterday said.
While all butterflies are ectotherms — they cannot generate their own body heat — the ability to regulate temperature varies significantly, researchers said.
The study found that species that struggle to moderate their body temperatures often rely on escaping the full heat of the sun in shaded “microclimates” to survive.
Photo: AFP / Oxford University / Andrew Blandon
These butterflies are “likely to suffer the most from climate change and habitat loss,” said lead author Andrew Bladon, of the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology.
Researchers said that the cooler niches they rely on have dwindled as habitats are lost and fragmented, driving population decline in two-thirds of butterfly species in Britain.
This is exacerbated by extreme weather events and temperature fluctuations made worse by climate change, they said.
To measure how butterflies cope with temperature change, researchers captured 4,000 wild specimens from 29 species, combing across several UK sites in monthly surveys from April to September 2009, and May to September 2018.
They recorded the behavior of each butterfly and then — if they could catch it in their nets — took its temperature using a tiny, 0.25mm-thick thermometer.
The study found that bigger, pale-coloured butterflies, like the large white or brimstone species, are better at thermoregulation because they can angle their wings to reflect the sun’s heat either away from them or onto their bodies to attain the right temperature.
Researchers said that these species had either stable or growing populations.
However, among species with smaller or more colorful wings, they found a less rosy picture, particularly among the “thermal specialists” that use shade to cool down.
These species, such as the small copper butterfly, have suffered steeper population declines over the past 40 years, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of Animal Ecology.
Bladon said that landscapes must become more diverse to protect a range of butterfly species.
“Even within a garden lawn, patches of grass can be left to grow longer — these areas will provide cooler, shady places for many species of butterfly,” he said in a university press release. “We also need to protect features that break up the monotony of farm landscapes, like hedgerows, ditches, and patches of woodland.”
Crowds in Bangladesh are flocking to snap photographs with an unlikely social media star — an albino buffalo with flowing blond hair nicknamed “Donald Trump” that is due to be sacrificed within days. Owner Zia Uddin Mridha, 38, said his brother named the 700kg bull over its flowing helmet of hair resembling the signature look of the US president. “My younger brother picked this name because of the buffalo’s extraordinary hair,” he said at his farm in Narayanganj, just outside the capital, Dhaka. Mridha said that a constant stream of curious visitors — social media fans, onlookers and children — have come throughout
It began as a satirical online project. Now millions of young people in India are flocking to it as an outlet for their frustration. A parody political party called the Cockroach Janta Party, with the insect as its symbol, has exploded across India’s social media by turning absurdist humor into protest. Memes and short videos mocking corruption, joblessness and political dysfunction have flooded social media sites, where millions of users are embracing the cockroach — known for its ability to survive harsh conditions — as a tongue-in-cheek symbol of endurance. The online movement’s rise has been unusually rapid. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)
HOTTER: While Indians are accustomed to summer heat, climate change has caused northwestern India to warm faster than other parts of the country, an academic said Roads and markets have emptied during afternoons and some farmers have switched to nighttime work to avoid scorching temperatures as a heat wave grips large parts of India. The India Meteorological Department forecast maximum temperatures for yesterday of about 45°C in the capital, New Delhi, where authorities have opened temporary “cooling zones” to help people cope. The weather department warned that conditions would likely persist across several northern regions in the coming days, with temperatures staying well above seasonal averages. Authorities urged people to stay indoors during the hottest hours and take precautions against heat-related illnesses. India declares a heat wave whenever maximum temperatures
BIGGER ROLE: Beijing has said it maintains an impartial stance on the war in Ukraine, but by training Russian troops, China is far more involved than previously known China’s armed forces secretly trained about 200 Russian military personnel in China late last year, and some have since returned to fight in Ukraine, according to three European intelligence agencies and documents seen by Reuters. While China and Russia have held a number of joint military exercises since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Beijing has repeatedly said that it is neutral in the conflict and presents itself as a peace mediator. The covert training sessions, which predominantly focused on the use of drones, were outlined in a dual-language Russian-Chinese agreement signed by senior Russian and Chinese officers in Beijing on
RSS