Expert Warns Of Decrease In Butterfly Population In Illinois
(CBS) -- You might be noticing fewer butterflies hanging around the plants and flowers in your neighborhood this summer, reports WBBM's Brandis Friedman explains.
The Illinois Nature Preserve Commission's Angela Moorehouse says the numbers are alarming.
"This year has been dramatically low from anything I have seen in my 15 years of doing butterfly surveys ," said Moorehouse.
Earlier this month, the count of butterflies in McDonough County in west central Illinois noted only 22 butterfly species.
"I always like to see around 35 in McDonough County. Seeing only 22 in the McDonough County count is significantly below the average.
Moorehouse explains the drought for a couple of years made it difficult for plants to grow and feed the adult butterflies and left imperfect growing conditions for caterpillars.
Expert Warns Of Decrease In Butterflies In Illinois
She is especially concerned that those butterflies that only produce young once a year will be even further diminished next year.
