Butterfly of the year 2025

January 06, 2025

teaser-bildActive during the day - Below: Spanish flag Above: Spotted fritillary butterfly

The butterfly of the year is a diurnal moth - the Spanish flag (Euplagia quadripunctaria). The range of the species within Germany in recent decades documents a consequence of climate change - the migration of warmth-adapted animal and plant species from southern Europe to the north.

While in the last century it was mainly found in southern Germany and north of this mainly in special locations favoured by warmth, such as sun-exposed rocky locations or quarries, it has now colonised the areas to the left and right of the Rhine from Switzerland to the Netherlands.

Even in the project area, which is one of the cooler areas in Central Europe due to its altitude of mostly over 500 metres above sea level, the Spanish flag has now been recorded. Previously unknown in the Monschau area, the number of records has been increasing since 2019.

The large, conspicuous butterfly is a summer species that can be found mainly in July and August on flowering shrubs such as Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum).

The Spanish flag was first detected in the Rur valley near Monschau in 2022

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