Butterflies, known for their beauty and vital role in pollination, are vanishing from U.S. landscapes at an alarming rate. A comprehensive study, published Thursday in the journal Science, found that 22% of butterflies in the United States disappeared between 2000 and 2020.

The new research offers a stark warning about the potential future of these cherished insects.

"Losing one out of every five butterflies over 20 years should be a big wake-up call to people," said Dr. Eliza Grames, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Binghamton University and co-author of the study. "These declines are not stopping."

While butterflies are the most extensively monitored insect group in the U.S., most past studies have been limited by geography or focused on specific species, a news release on the study said. The researchers behind the Science study used data from more than 12.6 million butterflies spanning 342 individual species, drawing from 76,000 surveys across 35 nationwide monitoring programs.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/22-butterflies-u-disappeared-2-190708628.html