About the Ebook
My retirement in 2016 to the Atlantic islands of Madeira and Porto Santo had many longstanding background associations for me. As a Cambridge University Classical scholar I already recognised them from classical literature as most probably being the Islands of the Blessed, (Macaronesia), where heroes of ancient Greece, unable to assume immortality, went after their death. The description of the Hesperides, literally the Evening Isles, was the place where Paris obtained the golden apple, probably an orange, to present to his choice of the most beautiful of the goddesses.
My other Cambridge degree, Biological Sciences, further endeared Madeira to me for its equable climate, its verdancy, all-year- round cornucopia of flora and fresh vegetables, and large variety of fauna. As an amateur musician, moreover, I was happy at the cultural ambience of its entertainment. I felt comfortable in the place. One day by chance I noticed a book on the island’s butterflies for sale in Funchal’s charming Teatro Baltazar Dias, a surprising outlet for such a book. I could not resist its purchase. On first reading two things impressed me. First that there were so few butterfly species on the island, a mere fourteen if one discounted the probably extinct Large White (Pieris brassica wollastoni). Secondly, the book itself, though an admirable work of scholarship, was all of seventeen years since publication, and based on data confined to the island’s Ecological Park.
In Britain there are some sixty butterfly species, and in the Canaries at least twenty four. Why so few on such an unspoiled territory? Moreover, only nine of Madeira’s species were at all common, the remaining six being either rarely seen, or, as in the case above, not seen at all since the late 1980s. Yet in the 19th century one famous entomologist, Thomas Vernon Wollaston, a friend of Charles Darwin until they fell out, had spent much time in Madeira chronicling these sometimes now extinct insects. Wollaston was perhaps upset that his own book on evolution, On the Variation of Species, had predated Darwin’s by three years. Darwin had received one of the fifty printed copies. Wollaston never got the accolade he arguably deserved, but most of his unique insect collection now rests in London’s Natural History Museum, ironically in their new Darwin Centre. One excellent paper in 2003 listed all recorded sightings since 1850, a surprisingly scanty total of little more than 360. As its authors commented, this dearth was possibly a reflection of simply where amateur collectors found it easy to go. In fact there were only 19 recorded sightings west of Calheta in all that 150 or so years. Having been visiting the island for three decades before settling there, I had witnessed the many changes taking place, and that the Via Rapida and associated tunnelling had reduced journey times dramatically, now allowing easier penetration to Madeira’s more remote regions. But only in the last couple of decades could one penetrate the island thus.
Levada improvements also now let tourists reach relatively uninhabited parts, but few of the books describing levada walks pay any attention to the butterflies their adherents would inevitably encounter on their rambles. It seemed to me that personally exploring more of the island, particularly in the west, such as the heavily wooded region of Ribeira de Janela, or the land around Ponto de Parga, to seek out spots where butterflies might be seen, (and maybe new species discovered), might prove to be a pleasant retirement hobby. With this objective in mind I was hooked, and started to read up on the history, biology, variety, and conservation problems of the butterfly world in general and Madeira in particular. I studied maps, satellite inspections, the immense past literature of the Lepidoptera and I trekked into its little-visited valleys, rivers, and slopes of the terrain, exploring regions of the island where these colourful insects might best be sighted. This book presents the fruits of my labour, for the benefit of biologists, tourists, life scientists, and the general reader.
It was a fascinating journey, and I am pleased to share it with you.
Most of the people I have to thank for their enormous contribution to this book are totally unaware of their guidance. In these days of the Internet there is so much available online that one scarcely needs to leave one’s desk to become relatively knowledgeable about any topic of interest, and so it is with butterflies. One is standing on the digital shoulders of giants in this field, whom I hope I have suitably identified not only in the text but in the pointers for further reading. Whatever did we do before the web!? Before these modern experts there were whole generations of pioneers who did the hard work of scouring countrysides, voyaging perilously on seas before flying had been invented, venturing into habitats yet unchronicled, spending long hours in observation, and even longer hours illustrating the insects before the invention of macro lens photography or timelapse and slomo micrography. I aim to have given to these too my respect and recognition, not neglecting the contribution of the lady lepidopterists, whose task was arguably even harder.
I hope this book will acquaint readers with an understanding of the butterflies present in Madeira island and their habitats. More than that, I hope it will encourage the reader to help protect, chronicle, and conserve these beautiful fragile creatures for the delight of future generations. “The butterfly world project is aiming to help avert a global catastrophe. Ninetyfive percent of all animal species on this planet are invertebrates, that is to say, animals without backbones. If animals with backbones, like me, were to disappear overnight, the invertebrate world would get on very well. But if the invertebrates disappear the ecosystems of the world would collapse within days. So it behoves us all to do what we can to protect the insect world”. (Sir David Attenborough). At the time of those words in 2013, seventy six percent of British butterflies had declined in the previous twenty years. Indeed, butterfly species decline has outstripped those of birds or plants. The world is experiencing a mass extinction of its own making. At present we do not know what the trends are in Madeira, so at the end of this book is a Table to monitor the changes in Madeiran butterfly populations year by year.
Take part, and become part of the solution! I hope this book will acquaint readers with an understanding of the butterflies present in Madeira island and their habitats.
More than that, I hope it will encourage the reader to help protect, chronicle, and conserve these beautiful fragile creatures for the delight of future generations.
If you have any questions, please contact us:
rogercoghll@gmail.com
by Roger Coghill