Rick Borchelt
@rickborchelt.bsky.social
Science and natural history writer, field naturalist, garden and botany enthusiast. The Three B's: Birds, butterflies, and botany are key interests. Support citizen and community science!
The Portuguese endemic Madeira white butterfly is officially extinct. First European butterfly species to be classified as globally extinct. www.yourweather.co.uk/news/trendin...
The Madeira white butterfly is officially extinct
The Madeira white butterfly is the first European species classified as globally extinct by the IUCN.
www.yourweather.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 7:25 PM
The Portuguese endemic Madeira white butterfly is officially extinct. First European butterfly species to be classified as globally extinct. www.yourweather.co.uk/news/trendin...
University of Delaware undergraduate student looks at how mosquito control methods seriously threaten caterpillars www.udel.edu/udaily/2025/...
The moth defender | UDaily
UD undergraduate student looks at how mosquito control methods threaten caterpillars
www.udel.edu
November 5, 2025 at 3:19 PM
University of Delaware undergraduate student looks at how mosquito control methods seriously threaten caterpillars www.udel.edu/udaily/2025/...
A former PhD student at the University of York has used records from a century-and-a-half of museum collections and citizen science projects to show long-term patterns in the species richness of tropical butterflies. www.york.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
Integrating museum records with contemporary citizen science data to uncover 166 years of tropical butterfly history
A former PhD student at the University of York has used records from museum collections and citizen science projects to show long-term patterns in the species richness of tropical butterflies.
www.york.ac.uk
October 29, 2025 at 6:46 PM
A former PhD student at the University of York has used records from a century-and-a-half of museum collections and citizen science projects to show long-term patterns in the species richness of tropical butterflies. www.york.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
A project to protect and restore ancient Caledonian forests in the Scottish Highlands is significantly boosting moth biodiversity, a new study led by a University of Stirling PhD student has found. www.stir.ac.uk/news/2025/oc...
Project to restore and expand Scotland’s ancient forests is boosting moth biodiversity | About | University of Stirling
Project to restore and expand Scotland’s ancient forests is boosting moth biodiversity
www.stir.ac.uk
October 29, 2025 at 6:43 PM
A project to protect and restore ancient Caledonian forests in the Scottish Highlands is significantly boosting moth biodiversity, a new study led by a University of Stirling PhD student has found. www.stir.ac.uk/news/2025/oc...
New azure butterfly species named in tribute to slain Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska www.the-independent.com/news/world/a...
October 25, 2025 at 6:24 PM
New azure butterfly species named in tribute to slain Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska www.the-independent.com/news/world/a...
While the prevailing wisdom is that butterfly populations are in steep decline worldwide, a century and a half of observations in Indonesia found -- short term trends notwithstanding -- no overall declines in butterfly species richness on Sulawesi royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
October 17, 2025 at 4:19 PM
While the prevailing wisdom is that butterfly populations are in steep decline worldwide, a century and a half of observations in Indonesia found -- short term trends notwithstanding -- no overall declines in butterfly species richness on Sulawesi royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
A previously-unknown butterfly species collected by Alfred Russell Wallace in the Amazon — and overlooked in museum drawers for more than 150 years — has been designated as a new species named in honor of Harvard biologist and Wallace aficionado, Andrew Berry. news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...
A butterfly named in honor of a Harvard biologist
A previously-unknown butterfly species collected in the Amazon and forgotten in museum drawers for more than 150 years has been designated as a new species.
news.harvard.edu
October 8, 2025 at 7:49 PM
A previously-unknown butterfly species collected by Alfred Russell Wallace in the Amazon — and overlooked in museum drawers for more than 150 years — has been designated as a new species named in honor of Harvard biologist and Wallace aficionado, Andrew Berry. news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...
For butterflies, bold and bright wings once meant survival, helping them attract mates and hide from prey. But a new research project suggests that as humans replace rich tropical forests with monochrome, the colour of other creatures is leaching away. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
As forests are cut down, butterflies are losing their colours
The insects’ brilliant hues evolved in lush ecosystems to help them survive. Now they are becoming more muted to adapt to degraded landscapes – and they are not the only things dulling down
www.theguardian.com
October 6, 2025 at 11:11 PM
For butterflies, bold and bright wings once meant survival, helping them attract mates and hide from prey. But a new research project suggests that as humans replace rich tropical forests with monochrome, the colour of other creatures is leaching away. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
One of the new (to me!) butterfly species I was able to observe on my recent Arizona trip, this one from Cave Creek Canyon. Ares Metalmark, Apodemia ares,
October 2, 2025 at 6:45 PM
One of the new (to me!) butterfly species I was able to observe on my recent Arizona trip, this one from Cave Creek Canyon. Ares Metalmark, Apodemia ares,
Scientists to attempt to rear British Swallowtails from eggs frozen in nitrogen. If successful, method could be used to support long-term conservation of species vulnerable to extinction www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Scientists to attempt to rear swallowtail butterflies from eggs frozen in nitrogen
If successful, method could be used to support long-term conservation of species vulnerable to extinction
www.theguardian.com
October 2, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Scientists to attempt to rear British Swallowtails from eggs frozen in nitrogen. If successful, method could be used to support long-term conservation of species vulnerable to extinction www.theguardian.com/environment/...
How rare butterflies show impacts of climate change on South Florida www.miamiherald.com/news/local/e...
September 30, 2025 at 8:37 PM
How rare butterflies show impacts of climate change on South Florida www.miamiherald.com/news/local/e...
Bees, bumblebees, butterflies and other pollinators need far more space for recovery than currently stipulated in EU directives, reports a research team from Wageningen University & Research and published this week in Science www.naturetoday.com/intl/en/natu...
Nature Today | 10 percent natural habitat is insufficient for pollinator recovery
Bees, bumblebees and butterflies have too little natural habitat around them to survive. A new study, led by researchers at Wageningen University & Research and published in Science, shows that these ...
www.naturetoday.com
September 26, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Bees, bumblebees, butterflies and other pollinators need far more space for recovery than currently stipulated in EU directives, reports a research team from Wageningen University & Research and published this week in Science www.naturetoday.com/intl/en/natu...
In the vast heather fields around the Cairngorms' Abernethy Forest, Scotch Argus are flitting and tussling, velvety brown with an orange band www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Country diary: Dark chocolate butterflies in a purple patch | Amanda Thomson
Abernethy Forest, Cairngorms: In the vast heather fields, Scotch Argus are flitting and tussling, velvety brown with an orange band
www.theguardian.com
September 9, 2025 at 4:53 PM
In the vast heather fields around the Cairngorms' Abernethy Forest, Scotch Argus are flitting and tussling, velvety brown with an orange band www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Newly described hairstreak species, Francis’ Gorgeous Sapphire Blue, faces conservation risks in Angola news.mongabay.com/2025/09/disc...
Discovery of dazzling blue butterfly underscores peril facing Angola’s forests
Francis’s gorgeous sapphire — a new-to-science species of butterfly — has just been described in the high-altitude evergreen forests of western Angola. The identification of Iolaus francisi, with its ...
news.mongabay.com
September 3, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Newly described hairstreak species, Francis’ Gorgeous Sapphire Blue, faces conservation risks in Angola news.mongabay.com/2025/09/disc...
New Study: Cold Winters Stop Species from Moving Northward Due to Climate Change www.idw-online.de/-DRTzAA
August 29, 2025 at 9:13 PM
New Study: Cold Winters Stop Species from Moving Northward Due to Climate Change www.idw-online.de/-DRTzAA
Red-banded Hairstreak is Vermont's 120th confirmed butterfly species for the state's lep fauna val.vtecostudies.org/newsfeed/new...
August 29, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Red-banded Hairstreak is Vermont's 120th confirmed butterfly species for the state's lep fauna val.vtecostudies.org/newsfeed/new...
Extreme summer weather could further endanger monarch butterflies, an at-risk species in Canada, researchers fear ca.news.yahoo.com/extreme-summ...
Extreme summer weather could further endanger monarch butterflies, researchers fear
This summer's drought and record-breaking heat could affect the fall migration of the endangered monarch butterfly, according to researchers from the University of Ottawa.They say the extreme weather ...
ca.news.yahoo.com
August 25, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Extreme summer weather could further endanger monarch butterflies, an at-risk species in Canada, researchers fear ca.news.yahoo.com/extreme-summ...
Following the Coronis Fritillary's journey from shrub steppe to alpine meadow in the Yakima area www.yakimaherald.com/explore_yaki... via @Yakima_Herald
Following one butterfly's journey from shrub steppe to alpine meadow in the Yakima area
Follow the path of one butterfly on a migratory route within Central Washington. It emerges in the spring in the Yakima Valley, heads up to Cascade mountains, and returns back
www.yakimaherald.com
August 24, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Following the Coronis Fritillary's journey from shrub steppe to alpine meadow in the Yakima area www.yakimaherald.com/explore_yaki... via @Yakima_Herald
Inside a plan to bring back California’s Xerces Blue www.kqed.org/news/1205298...
Is Extinction Permanent? Resurrecting California’s Xerces Blue Butterfly | KQED
Ecologists hope to resurrect a crucial piece of the Presidio dunes ecosystem with a rare blue butterfly.
www.kqed.org
August 21, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Inside a plan to bring back California’s Xerces Blue www.kqed.org/news/1205298...
Planting buffer zones around crops to keep pesticides from drifting into the surrounding landscape doesn't work, new research has found. Scientists from ARS and Cornell found no decrease in pesticides all the way across buffer zones more than 100 feet wide entomologytoday.org/2025/08/19/s...
Study Finds High Pesticide Drift Into Wildflower Buffer Zones Near Crop Fields
Wildflower plantings near crops are a common tool for attracting pollinators, but pesticide drift can harm the very pollinators they're meant to attract.
entomologytoday.org
August 20, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Planting buffer zones around crops to keep pesticides from drifting into the surrounding landscape doesn't work, new research has found. Scientists from ARS and Cornell found no decrease in pesticides all the way across buffer zones more than 100 feet wide entomologytoday.org/2025/08/19/s...
Mount Rainier butterfly researchers track climate change. What have they found? chronline.com/stories/moun...
Mount Rainier butterfly researchers track climate change. What have they found? - The Daily Chronicle
A flash of orange darted between blue broadleaf lupine, magenta paintbrush and pink-white mountain daisies before the small butterfly disappeared into the sky. “That’s another …
chronline.com
August 15, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Mount Rainier butterfly researchers track climate change. What have they found? chronline.com/stories/moun...
Climate-fuelled El Niño events are devastating butterflies, beetles and other tropical insects
theconversation.com/climate-fuel...
theconversation.com/climate-fuel...
Climate-fuelled El Niño events are devastating butterflies, beetles and other tropical insects
The research suggests the life-support system underpinning the tropics is at serious risk in a warmer world.
theconversation.com
August 7, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Climate-fuelled El Niño events are devastating butterflies, beetles and other tropical insects
theconversation.com/climate-fuel...
theconversation.com/climate-fuel...
What a Massive Butterfly Count Reveals nautil.us/what-a-massi...
What a Massive Butterfly Count Reveals
A tale of three decades and 4.3 million butterflies
nautil.us
August 6, 2025 at 7:06 PM
What a Massive Butterfly Count Reveals nautil.us/what-a-massi...
A rather steamy trip to the National Arboretum yesterday yielded this red-banded hairstreak “tail/rubbing” to distract predators with this “false head” complete w faux antennae
July 25, 2025 at 10:35 PM
A rather steamy trip to the National Arboretum yesterday yielded this red-banded hairstreak “tail/rubbing” to distract predators with this “false head” complete w faux antennae
Experts stunned after record-breaking surge in rare butterfly sightings: 'None of us want summer 2025 to ever end' <https://www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/purple-emperor-butterfly-population-uk/>
July 24, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Experts stunned after record-breaking surge in rare butterfly sightings: 'None of us want summer 2025 to ever end' <https://www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/purple-emperor-butterfly-population-uk/>