Bye, bye butterfly? Study shows numbers falling in U.S. but Long Island preservationist is trying to stop trend

Butterflies are vanishing nationwide due to habitat loss, climate change and use of insecticides, according to a new study, and on Long Island, one preservationist says she has taken the matter into her own hands.

Oyster Bay resident Jamie Arty said Friday she began rearing the winged creatures in 2022.

She collects them as caterpillars from public property scheduled for pruning maintenance, saving the insects she calls “magical,” from potential demise. She estimated she has been able to collect about 200 caterpillars that have transformed into full adults.

“I’m seeing less and less butterflies and also we’re starting to see them later on in the season,” said Arty, 43, founder of the New York Butterfly website, which sells milkweed seeds and plants for monarch butterflies to feed from and lay their eggs on.

The number of butterflies in the United States from 2000 to 2020 declined 22%, according to the study published Thursday in the journal Science. It said the median  species plummeted 41.5% during that two decade stretch and 2.5% annually.

It’s part of a concerning trend of declining insect populations, according to the study, whose authors included New York-based scientists.

Insects, the study said, play an important role in the ecosystem for several reasons. They include pollination, pest control, recycling nutrients from dead organisms and serving as food sources for other creatures.  

The warming climate has contributed to the shrinking butterfly population, the study said. It found climate change caused some butterflies to find northern states more “hospitable” than southern states, which have become warmer and have experienced more of a drastic decline in butterfly counts.

“Our national-scale findings paint the most complete — and concerning — picture of the status of butterflies across the country in the early 21st century,” the study said.

But all is not lost and there are way for the butterfly to make a comeback, according to the research. The study said reducing pesticide use and implementing conservation actions like restoring and preserving native habitats can allow the species to flourish again.

Arty, a mom of three, said she began to realize her children weren’t being exposed to as many butterflies as she had been growing up, prompting her to work on Long Island toward preserving the species.

On her property, where she recently completed restoration of a 19th century mansion, she maintains a monarch way station habitat — a pesticide-free garden specifically created to attract butterflies and help them reproduce. Arty also has lectured on the butterfly preservation efforts at garden clubs and donated milkweed plants to the Town of Oyster Bay.