Yahoo News Rise of 'butterfly weddings' is threatening native British species, Butterfly Conservation Society warns
The rising popularity of "butterfly weddings" is threatening British butterflies, a charity has warned.
According to Butterfly Conservation, the growing trend of releasing the insects from a box to mark the vows of a bride and groom is harmful because it could spread disease and makes recording the population difficult.
The charity said the releases make it harder to know "if any future record of the species is truly wild or has been seen as a consequence of such a release.
"This has the potential to divert limited conservation resources as it makes accurate mapping and hence conservation work for that species difficult, as we don’t then know where it occurs naturally."
It also said butterflies reared in captivity could be more susceptible to disease because they are kept in high-density cages.
The releases also "deflect attention" from the fact that the population of the insects is declining because of loss of habitat, the charity added.
Some non-native butterflies, such as the Monarch species, are not meant to be released in the UK and it is illegal to do so.
The Monarch butterflies are native to the USA, but some of them are occasionally blown across the Atlantic as they migrate south to Mexico after the summer.
The charity warned that Monarchs are unable to breed in this country as the food for its caterpillars does not grow here.
It said a recent case had come to light where several of the butterflies had been spotted in Dorset. It later transpired that there had been a butterfly release at a recent wedding.
What is marketed as a delightful addition to the ceremony is actually not very kind, and we would plead with those involved to stop doing it.
Nigel Spring, Butterfly Conservation Dorset branch chair
In an online article, Dorset branch chair for the charity, Nigel Spring, said: "We do not want to spoil anybody’s special day, but we suspect that the bride and groom often do not realise the implications of their decision, so we are writing this to make everybody more aware. What is marketed as a delightful addition to the ceremony is actually not very kind, and we would plead with those involved to stop doing it.
"We think we should admire these species’ amazing life pattern and not use them for live confetti and Butterfly Conservation take a very strong stance against this."
Angeline Hayden, who has been running her company Butterflies for Occasions, providing butterfly releases for events, for four years, said she had seen a rise in interest of around 25 per cent each year.
She said she was careful to make the welfare of the insects a priority and release only native "Painted Ladies", but was aware that other companies broke the rules.
"What we do is we bring awareness to the general public - it's not often can you get up close and personal with a butterfly.
"We do consider the welfare of the butterflies and we consider how people feel about our butterflies. Our butterflies are disease-free - those in the wild are not," she said.
She added that many of her clients request them at funerals and they can be helpful for grieving families.
"Butterfly releases with migratory butterflies have been going on for 15 or 20 years in the US and there doesn't seem to be a problem," she said.
"Positive results come out of providing butterflies for a release for a funeral for someone who has just lost a newborn baby - weighing it up, I know what I would rather do."
