What Will Life Be Like After Butterflies are Gone?

Butterflies are one of those kinds of creatures who define spring and summer for me. Its never spring as far as I'm concerned until I see at least one of those litle white butterflies that become so ubiguitous from May to September.

But I guess I had better find something else to mark the beginning of spring. According to this article on BrightSurf.com, California butterflies are having a hard go of it this year.

Cold, wet conditions early in the year mean that 2006 is shaping up as the
worst year for California’s butterflies in almost four decades, according to Art
Shapiro, professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis.That’s a turnaround from
last spring, when millions of painted lady butterflies migrated through the
Central Valley. But other species have seen steep declines in recent years and
could disappear from the region altogether.“It has been the worst spring for
butterflies of my 35 in California,” Shapiro said. “There will probably be
long-term repercussions, especially for species already in serious decline.”

As I'm working on Haint 2 I have to keep this in mind.

Read the rest of the article.