Butterfly

• Or worse, do you have an irrational fear of moths?
• Would it surprise you to learn moths are not the poor cousin of butterflies?
• Moths vary enormously in their size, what they like to eat, how they reproduce and how they live their lives.

Life arising from biological soup

Remember the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar? The life cycle begins with a little egg that hatches into a caterpillar, eats its way through a rainbow of food and then builds a cocoon for a complete transformation into a beautiful butterfly. This is complete metamorphosis, where the structure of the caterpillar dissolves into a biological soup and then into an adult that looks nothing like the original.

Are butterflies just ‘flamboyant’ moths?

• A few defining features separate moths from butterflies.
• But these features actually don’t separate all moths from butterflies, just night-flyers (nocturnal) from day-flyers.
• There are 125 families of moths and just six families of butterflies.
• These are definitely moth features but their genetic code suggests they are most closely related to butterflies.

Moths helped flowering plants evolve

• That makes moths twice as old as butterflies.
• This suggests these ancient moths contributed to the success of the first flowering plants.
• This means moths are not only the night-shift pollinator, they’re also more efficient than the daytime bee pollinators we hear most about.

The big and small of it

• The largest moth is the Hercules moth from northern Queensland in Australia with a wingspan of 361mm.
• One common species is thought to hold the world record for the number of eggs carried at around 44,000.
• The caterpillar growing phase may take many years in the ground and yet the adults only live for around a single day.

Some moths can hear

• That’s right, some moths can hear sound.
• These organs can help the moths detect bats, who hunt moths at night, so it is no surprise that three of the largest moths all have tympanic organs.
• Although most moths use chemicals and pheromones to attract a mate, whistling moths use sound.
• So next time you’re out for a walk, or spending time in your garden, day or night, look out for moths.

• Political controversy aside, what has become abundantly clear is that Ford’s Greenbelt plans fly in the face of Canada’s freshly funded commitment to halt biodiversity loss.
• Stretching over two million acres, the Greenbelt is the largest protected area of its kind in the world.
• So, what exactly is it that we gain from biodiversity — and what does protecting lands like the Greenbelt have to do with it?

Nature’s interconnected benefits

• Ecosystem services are the benefits we get from the natural environment.
• These services are usually divided into three main groups: provisioning, regulating and cultural services.
• For context, the average Canadian is responsible for about 20 tonnes of carbon entering the atmosphere over the same period.
• With over nine million people living within 20 kilometres of the Greenbelt, it provides a space for nearly a quarter of Canada’s population to enjoy these benefits.

A diverse support system

• Not all environments will provide the same services and having several types of ecosystems helps to maintain the wide variety of services we need — a type of biodiversity called ecosystem diversity.
• With many species doing the same job, the ecosystem can keep humming along even if one is impacted by disease, droughts or heat waves.
• It allows species to evolve and survive in changing environments — something that is increasingly important in a warming world.

The land-use battle

• Unfortunately, this type of habitat destruction is also exactly what is being proposed for the Greenbelt.
• The issue is not only about the amount of land that is protected, but also where it is and its connection to other natural areas.
• The current setup of the Greenbelt helps to prevent fragmentation by connecting landscapes, allowing wildlife to move between different areas.

• After centuries of landscape change, particularly deforestation caused by humans, it is easy to forget how well trees can thrive there.
• Since at least 3,000 years ago, trees and shrubs have been harvested for building materials, firewood and charcoal.
• Woody plants, especially willows, are particularly appetising for these animals in the uplands where nutritious food can be harder to find.

A perilous decline

• The iconic Scots pine is a feature of remnant treelines, particularly in the Cairngorms.
• These refuges also include birch, rowan and juniper, as well as arctic-alpine willows which are rare and endangered or vulnerable to extinction.

Reaching new heights

• Some observations were at least 200m above previous known altitudes.
• Our discoveries are attributed primarily to increased biological recording, which is valuable for expanding knowledge of the environmental tolerances of plants.

Benefits for a whole ecosystem

• Once a large enough seed source exists, the trees will also emerge on their own via natural regeneration.
• Montane willow scrub now flourishes on the Ben Lawers range in the southern Highlands, while Caledonian pinewoods are reappearing on higher ground in the Cairngorms.
• These benefits are called “nature-based solutions” because they are considered vitally important for reducing threats from escalating climate change, including warming temperatures, extreme weather and soil erosion.

Nature recovery at scale

• Land managers, policymakers and funding bodies must move forward from focusing on small areas of mountain woodland held behind fences.
• Those estates already taking such an approach are showing significant capacity for regeneration and nature recovery.
• Improving the health of all these habitats will allow our environment to nurture a high diversity of life and many associated benefits to people amidst the nature and climate emergency.

• JCK, the most prominent jewelry industry event globally, unveils the hottest jewelry trends in 2023.
• The editor in chief of JCK magazine and recognized jewelry and watch expert, Victoria Gomelsky, roamed the show floors with her team to uncover this year's trends.
• "For a jewelry editor, trendspotting at JCK in Las Vegas is the highlight of the year, and the 2023 edition did not disappoint," Gomelsky noted.
• To learn more about these trends and more of the standout jewelry trends this year, watch this JCK Trend Video .