Reports from around the country indicate that there are fewer butterflies about this year. Apparently butterflies numbers in the UK have fallen after a wet spring and cold start to the summer, experts have said.
Butterfly Conservation said this has meant a dearth of warm and dry conditions the insects need to fly and mate.
According to the UK Met Office, the first two weeks of June were about 2C colder than average, and despite a short heatwave at the end of June, the start of July has been unseasonably cold and wet.
In Ireland folk have been noting less bees buzzing around and even less fly activity. The wetter spring weather seems to be behind a lot of the dearth of insect activity - although evidence is only anecdotal at this stage.
