Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century

Collin B Edwards^{1

2}, Elise F Zipkin³, Erica H Henry^{1

2}, Nick M Haddad^{3

4}, Matthew L Forister⁵, Kevin J Burls⁶, Steven P Campbell⁷, Elizabeth E Crone⁸, Jay Diffendorfer⁹, Margaret R Douglas¹⁰, Ryan G Drum¹¹, Candace E Fallon⁶, Jeffrey Glassberg^{12

13}, Eliza M Grames¹⁴, Rich Hatfield⁶, Shiran Hershcovich¹⁵, Scott Hoffman Black⁶, Elise A Larsen¹⁶, Wendy Leuenberger³, Mary J Linders², Travis Longcore^{17

18}, Daniel A Marschalek¹⁹, James Michielini²⁰, Naresh Neupane¹⁶, Leslie Ries¹⁶, Arthur M Shapiro²⁰, Ann B Swengel, Scott R Swengel, Douglas J Taron²¹, Braeden Van Deynze², Jerome Wiedmann²², Wayne E Thogmartin²³, Cheryl B Schultz¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Biological Science, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, USA.
² Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, WA, USA.
³ Department of Integrative Biology; Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
⁴ Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, MI, USA.
⁵ Department of Biology; Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA.
⁶ Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Portland, OR, USA.
⁷ Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission, Albany, NY, USA.
⁸ Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
⁹ US Geological Survey Geosciences and Environmental Change Sciences Center, Denver, CO, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Environmental Studies and Environmental Science, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA, USA.
¹¹ US Fish and Wildlife Service - Center for Pollinator Conservation, Bloomington, MN, USA.
¹² North American Butterfly Association, Morristown, NJ, USA.
¹³ Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA.
¹⁵ Butterfly Pavilion, Westminster, CO, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁷ Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁸ The Urban Wildlands Group, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Biological and Clinical Sciences, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO, USA.
²⁰ Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
²¹ Chicago Academy of Sciences-Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Chicago, IL, USA.
²² Ohio Lepidopterists, Columbus, OH, USA.
²³ US Geological Survey Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, WI, USA.

PMID: 40048533
DOI: 10.1126/science.adp4671

Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century

Collin B Edwards et al. Science. 2025.

. 2025 Mar 7;387(6738):1090-1094.

doi: 10.1126/science.adp4671. Epub 2025 Mar 6.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Biological Science, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA, USA.
² Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia, WA, USA.
³ Department of Integrative Biology; Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
⁴ Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University, Hickory Corners, MI, USA.
⁵ Department of Biology; Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV, USA.
⁶ Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Portland, OR, USA.
⁷ Albany Pine Bush Preserve Commission, Albany, NY, USA.
⁸ Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
⁹ US Geological Survey Geosciences and Environmental Change Sciences Center, Denver, CO, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Environmental Studies and Environmental Science, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA, USA.
¹¹ US Fish and Wildlife Service - Center for Pollinator Conservation, Bloomington, MN, USA.
¹² North American Butterfly Association, Morristown, NJ, USA.
¹³ Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Biological Sciences, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA.
¹⁵ Butterfly Pavilion, Westminster, CO, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁷ Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁸ The Urban Wildlands Group, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Biological and Clinical Sciences, University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg, MO, USA.
²⁰ Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
²¹ Chicago Academy of Sciences-Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Chicago, IL, USA.
²² Ohio Lepidopterists, Columbus, OH, USA.
²³ US Geological Survey Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, La Crosse, WI, USA.

PMID: 40048533
DOI: 10.1126/science.adp4671

Abstract

Numerous declines have been documented across insect groups, and the potential consequences of insect losses are dire. Butterflies are the most surveyed insect taxa, yet analyses have been limited in geographic scale or rely on data from a single monitoring program. Using records of 12.6 million individual butterflies from >76,000 surveys across 35 monitoring programs, we characterized overall and species-specific butterfly abundance trends across the contiguous United States. Between 2000 and 2020, total butterfly abundance fell by 22% across the 554 recorded species. Species-level declines were widespread, with 13 times as many species declining as increasing. The prevalence of declines throughout all regions in the United States highlights an urgent need to protect butterflies from further losses.

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Butterfly populations flutter bye.
Inouye BD. Inouye BD. Science. 2025 Mar 7;387(6738):1036-1037. doi: 10.1126/science.adw1633. Epub 2025 Mar 6. Science. 2025. PMID: 40048546

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Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century

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Rapid butterfly declines across the United States during the 21st century

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