Between 2000 and 2020, total butterfly abundance fell by 22 per cent across the 554 species counted. That means that for every five individual butterflies within the contiguous US in the year 2000, there were only four in 2020. Butterfly populations dropped an average of 1.3% annually across the country, except for the Pacific Northwest. 13 times as many species declined as increased- with 107 species losing more than half their populations. \”This is the definitive study of butterflies in the U.S.,\” said Collin Edwards, the study’s lead author. \”Action must be taken,\” said Elise Zipkin, a Red Cedar Distinguished Professor of quantitative ecology at Michigan State University. \”We have never had as clear and compelling a picture of butterfly declines as we do now,\” said Zipkin. \”For those who were not already aware of insect declines, this should be a wake-up call. We urgently need both local- and national-scale conservation efforts to support butterflies and other insects,\” said Edwards.